A prominent male Milwaukee elected official filed a report with Milwaukee police, accusing a well-known male business leader of unwanted touching following a fundraiser for County Executive David Crowley’s gubernatorial campaign, Wisconsin Right Now has confirmed through multiple sources.
Courthouse sources tell us the incident was written up as an alleged “sexual assault,” and the politician took it all the way to the DA’s office, which met with him and the businessman before deciding there was not enough evidence to bring charges. Specifically, the politician accused the business leader – who is also involved in public life – of pinching his butt, three sources told WRN.
The business leader adamantly denied the allegation.
The sources say the Milwaukee official filed the police report on November 5, about two weeks after the fundraiser. He alleged the incident left him traumatized, sources said.
Crowley, who is one of multiple Democrats running for governor, responded via a campaign spokesman on January 22, who told WRN, “We’ve been made aware of an investigation of an incident that occurred in October. Every such allegation deserves to be taken seriously and merits a thorough examination.”
“The Crowley Campaign held an event at the restaurant where the incident is alleged to have occurred, but the campaign event ended before the period under investigation,” Crowley’s spokesman continued. “Neither County Executive Crowley, nor any member of his staff, was present at the time of the alleged incident. We were not made aware of the incident at the time, and have not been part of the investigation.” We learned the restaurant was Mo’s.
Even though the DA’s office essentially confirmed the names in an email response to Wisconsin Right Now, and we have them confirmed with three sources, Wisconsin Right Now has decided not to name the accuser and accused until we can report the context contained in the police report. We’ve filed an open records request with the Milwaukee Police Department. The MPD confirmed receipt of our request, which is pending.
We asked Milwaukee County District Attorney Kent Lovern, “Why did the DA office not prosecute the [politician] sexual touching accusation (pinching butt) against [the businessman]? We received a response from Chief Deputy DA Jeffrey Altenburg, who wrote, “After reviewing the referral related to this matter, and meeting with both parties, our office determined that we could not prove the elements of the referred crime beyond a reasonable doubt. The matter was therefore closed without any criminal charges.”
The politician and the businessman did not return emailed requests for comment.
The media have selectively reported other accusations, but they’ve remained silent about the Milwaukee Democrat’s accusations against the highly touted business leader.
For example, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel dredged up 32-year-old accusations against a former fire union chief when he ran for elected office. They even ran a poll asking people whether that official, who had been sober for 15 years at that point, should receive an appointment from the Republican governor. Around the country, politicians and others have occasionally faced criminal charges for grabbing someone’s behind or pinching their butt. The Wisconsin media have also occasionally made the consensual personal lives of conservatives big news.
Crowley is one of multiple candidates who is running for governor as a Democrat. To be clear, the official who made the accusation is not Crowley. Crowley is also not the man who was accused.
WRN first learned about the accusation from a source close to city government, who said word of the accusation is spreading like wildfire around City Hall.
