INDIANAPOLIS — A special prosecutor said Tuesday that he believes the claims of the four women who have accused Indiana's attorney general of drunkenly groping them at a party, but he doesn't have sufficient evidence to prosecute.
In his review of the investigation into allegations against Attorney General Curtis Hill, a Republican, stemming from an event at an Indianapolis bar in March, the prosecutor, Daniel Sigler, said he "took the complaining witnesses claims as true and credible."
In the report released Tuesday, Sigler says he found the accusers' motives sincere and believed that Hill had "touched them in a way that was inappropriate."
He added that Hill hasn't denied the touching occurred, but said the attorney general said it was incidental in a crowded bar and "not intended to be disrespectful, sexual in nature or rude."
Sigler said he considered misdemeanor battery charges against Hill, but witnesses gave varying accounts of what happened in the Indianapolis bar.
The prosecutor said he believed Hill drank a "significant" amount of alcohol that night, but that prosecuting him would be tough because several weeks passed before the allegations were raised.
Hill has denied the allegations and rejected calls to resign from Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb and legislative leaders.
Sigler was appointed earlier this year to review the state inspector general's findings from an investigation into the allegations against Hill and to determine whether he should be charged.