WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior Justice Department official sexually assaulted an employee and pressured another worker to have sex with him in exchange for a promotion, the department’s inspector general said Tuesday.
The official, who was not named, also sexually harassed at least two other female employees who worked for him, according to the watchdog’s report. The inspector general’s office found that the official had “abused his authority by coercing female employees in his chain of command to have sex with him.”
Investigators substantiated several allegations against the official, including charges that he made repeated “verbal sexual advances” to an employee and “ultimately sexually assaulted her.” The two other employees, who were also subordinates, had been sexually harassed when the official engaged in “sexually inappropriate conduct toward them.”
The report, known as an investigative summary, does not provide additional details, including the dates when the alleged abuse occurred.
The inspector general’s office found the official’s actions were illegal and also violated federal regulations and Justice Department policy. But prosecutors declined to bring criminal charges against the official, the report said.
The official, who worked in the department’s Office of Justice Programs, has since retired.
