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Accusation against Cain could be sex abuse: lawyers

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain might have faced sexual-abuse charges if the first woman to go public with accusations of misconduct had pressed her case against him, three criminal defense lawyers said.
/ Source: Reuters

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain might have faced sexual-abuse charges if the first woman to go public with accusations of misconduct had pressed her case against him, three criminal defense lawyers said.

But they said the case would be hard to prove.

"That certainly qualifies, if true, as misdemeanor sexual abuse," said David Benowitz, a criminal defense lawyer in Washington, where the woman said her contact with Cain took place.

Sharon Bialek said Monday that Cain touched her thigh and reached up her skirt in 1997 while they were in a car together after dinner. Cain denied the accusation in a statement released by his campaign.

Washington's criminal code prohibits "sexual contact" without another's permission, and it defines sexual contact to include touching a person's inner thigh. A conviction may lead to a prison term of up to 180 days and a fine of up to $1,000.

The allegation against Cain, now vying for the Republican nomination ahead of November 2012 elections, would be time-barred now, lawyers said, but even if Bialek accused him in 1997, prosecutors would have wanted another eyewitness or physical evidence before pursuing the matter.

"A prosecutor would be reluctant to bring this case because she said it happened; he said it didn't," said Bernie Grimm, a Washington criminal defense lawyer. Grimm said the conduct described by Bialek was "attempted sexual assault if it happened."

Pamela Satterfield, a former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted sexual-abuse cases, said the exact location of Cain's hands would make a difference because of how the criminal code defines sexual contact. "We don't know where the touching was," she said.