Pressure continued to mount on San Diego mayor Bob Filner to
resign over the weekend, the San Diego County Sheriff's Office announced that
it was creating a special hotline to handle sexual harassment complaints
against the 70-year-old Democrat.
UTSanDiego.com reported that the sheriff's office announced
Friday that it would be the lead investigative agency for any complaints
against Filner and any information gleaned via the hotline would be turned over
to the California Attorney General's office for possible prosecution.
Filner responded to the hotline's creation with a statement
saying "I very much welcome the fact that some of these allegations will
finally be addressed by an appropriate investigative authority rather than by
press conference and innuendo.
As I have stated before, everyone deserves due
process and I am encouraged an effort to implement that has begun."
No formal complaints or lawsuits have been filed against
Filner and none of his alleged victims have come forward. Under California law,
victims of sexual assault may be given anonymity.
Filner, the first Democrat to be elected mayor of San Diego
since 1992, has vowed not to step aside since the allegations became public
June 10.
On that date, a letter addressed to Filner from former San Diego
Councilwoman and Filner aide Donna Frye became public.
In the letter, Frye
informed Filner that she had received "credible evidence" that the
mayor had harassed more than one woman and called on both Filner to resign and
the city council to remove Filner from office if he would not go.
The next day, Filner publicly apologized for inappropriate
behavior, but denied the sexual harassment charges and asked that San Diego's
voters "give me an opportunity to prove I am capable of change, so that
the vision I have for our city's future can be realized."
In the days since, former supporters have come forward with
sexual harassment and groping allegations against Filner, to the extent that
the Mayor has been asked by the city's chief operating officer not to meet with
any women behind closed doors.
The San Diego Sheriff's Office hotline for claims against
Filner can be reached by dialing 619-481-0220.
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