New York Governor Andrew Cuomo made an announcement from the One World Trade Center Tower.
The Albany County, New York, District Attorney's Office dropped a criminal charge against Andrew Cuomo, who was accused of touching a female aide in the governor's mansion.
The Albany County District Attorney's Office is the only one who has a burden to prove the elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt, according to Albany D.A. David Soares.
After reviewing all the available evidence, Soares said that they couldn't meet their burden at trial.
The charges filed by the Albany County Sheriff are being asked to be dismissed by the court.
Cuomo was due to appear in Albany City Court for the first time in the case, which was filed in October by the Albany County Sheriff's Office, without warning to Soares.
The announcement came after several other prosecutors indicated they would not file charges against Cuomo, who had faced a possible sentence of up to a year in prison and three years of parole if convicted in the Albany case.
The Albany complaint was lodged two months after the three-term incumbent Democrat resigned on the heels of a damning report commissioned by the New York Attorney General's Office that found he had sexually harassed nearly a dozen women.
Cuomo forcibly placed his hand under the blouse shirt of the victim when he visited him in the Executive Mansion in Albany, according to the criminal complaint.
The complaint said that the victim left his breast for the purpose of degrading and gratifying his sexual desires.
The complaint was filed by the Sheriff's Office.
In November, Soares told a judge that the complaint was flawed because it excluded testimony from Cuomo's accuser and that parts of the complaint misstated the law.
The office of Soares had not indicated it would drop the case.
I am deeply troubled by the allegations at issue here. Soares said that conduct has no place in government or any workplace.
I encourage victims of workplace harassment and abuse to come forward and bring these issues to light so that these important discussions can continue.
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