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Back in December of last year, the Justice Department’s Inspector General announced that they’d substantiated allegations that a senior official was a repeated sexual harasser. The official had retired at that point, and the allegations grew to include one of rape, and another woman reported she was pressured to have sex with the official to advance her career.
Now BuzzFeed News has obtained a (redacted) copy of the IG’s report and it reveals shocking details about what’s alleged to have gone on at Main Justice.
BuzzFeed had previously identified the senior official as Edison Aponte, and wouldn’t you know it, his job is very much at odds with an alleged repeated sexual harasser:
Aponte’s most recent title was associate deputy director in the Bureau of Justice Assistance, a section within the Office of Justice Programs that provides law enforcement training and grants — including, several sources noted, on issues related to victims of sexual assault and domestic violence.
“It boggles the mind,” said Jon Adler, who took over as the head of the Bureau of Justice Assistance in late 2017. By then, the inspector general’s investigation was underway and Aponte had been placed on leave.
Multiple women are cited in the IG’s report as complaining about Aponte’s behavior. One woman said Aponte engaged in sexually charged conversations with her, including asking about her favorite sexual position. She says she was pressured by Aponte to have sex with him to secure a promotion. Aponte denies this relationship. Another woman says she had a consensual relationship with Aponte, which the IG report still classifies as harassment as he was her supervisor. Two other women complained of inappropriate comments.
But the most shocking allegations come from a woman only identified as S.C. by BuzzFeed News. She said Aponte began harassing her with inappropriate comments and unwanted touching, including backrubs. She even says she put a mirror at her desk so he would be unable to sneak up on her and touch her. S.C. also alleges that Aponte raped her:
S.C. also told investigators that Aponte once sexually assaulted her. She said that Aponte followed her home after they had gone as part of a group to an unspecified sports event, and asked to come inside to use the bathroom and for a tour. According to the report, she said that when she rejected his attempts to touch her, he became “forceful” and “sexually assaulted her by having sexual intercourse with her.”
According to the report, Aponte denies he assaulted her, but instead says it was a consensual sexual relationship.
The BuzzFeed article also details the torturous process of trying to get the DOJ to do something about Aponte, and harassment in general. A process that was stymied by Aponte’s retirement. But for S.C., she told BuzzFeed she was unimpressed by the efforts:
She said she felt ignored and abandoned by department officials after she first reported being harassed by him in 2012. She’s still angry about how the department handled her situation, and said the fact that Aponte is gone and the inspector general made a public finding of wrongdoing wasn’t a satisfying resolution.
“What he did to those other people, management allowed to have happened — because they didn’t do anything when I went to them. They allowed that. They protected him and they allowed it,” she said.
In January, the DOJ announced a new “mandatory” sexual harassment training for all employees and plans on developing a more robust policy. To date, that has not happened.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).