NEW YORK (AP & WXXI News) - The prosecutor appointed to investigate allegations that former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman physically abused women says she has closed the case without bringing criminal charges.
Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced her decision Thursday.
She said in a brief statement that investigators did an "exhaustive review" and she personally interviewed each woman who had accused Schneiderman of assault.
Singas says investigators also spoke with members of Schneiderman's security detail.
But she said she concluded that "legal impediments, including statutes of limitations, preclude criminal prosecution."
Singas added that the probe found no misconduct by Schneiderman's staff in the attorney general's office.
Pamela Graham of the Willow Domestic Violence Center in Rochester and says this could discourage other victims from coming forward.
"So by minimizing that it kind of feeds into the stigma and the shame of all that. It wasn’t 'bad enough' that we could even pursue it."
She says they have seen an increase in calls since the me too movement.
"The interesting thing is when all this is going on in the world then it can’t help but be triggering to somebody who has survived it and is thriving now or is in the midst of it," Graham told WXXI News.
Schneiderman said in a statement he didn't consider the decision an exoneration. He also apologized "for any and all pain that I have caused."
