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Albany Prosecutor's Office to Investigate Assemblyman Vito Lopez

Albany County District Attorney David Soares
WAMC Photo by Dave Lucas
Albany County District Attorney David Soares

A person familiar with the probe tells The Associated Press the Albany County district attorney is now joining a special prosecutor who is investigating a sexual harassment case in the Assembly. WAMC’s Dave Lucas reports…

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the addition of DA David Soares' office to the effort led by Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan hasn't yet been announced.

Donovan is examining the case of Democratic Brooklyn Assemblyman Vito Lopez, who was censured by the Assembly Aug. 24 following accusations of sexual harassment by women staffers. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver agreed to a secret $103,000 settlement in July using public money to settle two other accusers' claims against Lopez.

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes worked politically with Lopez so he asked Donovan, a Republican, to lead the investigation.

©2012 Associated Press

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.