Ex-NYC Elections lawyer pleads guilty to sexually harassing interns

The a single-time leading lawyer for the town Board of Elections pleaded guilty to abusing his business office by harassing an intern and yet another subordinate, authorities announced Thursday — allegedly giving them bodily examinations that involved measuring physique areas and groping them for own satisfaction.

Former BOE normal counsel Steve Richman retired previous year amid the misconduct probe by the city Office of Investigation.

Richman, 63, pleaded responsible in New York County Felony Court docket to two counts of Official Misconduct, which are course-A misdemeanors. He gained an unconditional discharge as element of a plea agreement with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s business office.

“This defendant exploited his position of authority with the BOE when he conditioned probable future task prospective clients for an intern he supervised, and one more individual to whom he presented potential work, on assembly improper requires to gratify his have personalized interests,” mentioned DOI Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber.

“This carry out is not only outrageous and shameful — it is criminal.”

Richman, who was dependable for the choosing and supervision of the authorized interns and other team at the BOE — where by he had served considering the fact that 1999 — convinced an intern he supervised in the summer season of 2017 that he could help the young male receive a task as a protection guard at political activities.

The capture: Richman said the intern very first experienced to go a so-named “physical health assessment” that he would administer in BOE workplaces.

Richman performed the sham bodily examination at a BOE office environment right after hours by measuring the intern’s human body elements and then inserting the subordinate in wrestling retains. He then questioned the young man to position him in wrestling retains for particular pleasure and recurring the “assessment” many situations, Strauber mentioned.

“Richman had no immediate intention of securing the intern a occupation as a stability guard and hardly ever took any actions towards securing such a job,” DOI mentioned in a push release.

Likewise, Richman persuaded a different potential seek the services of in August 2020 that he could use his place to protected him a security guard article at a political celebration if he passed a actual physical “assessment” — administered by the BOE honcho.

Richman took shots throughout the actual physical exam and “did not get any measures towards securing the specific a position as a stability guard,” DOI claimed.

His actions are the subject of a civil fit filed by a Columbia College university student in Manhattan state Supreme Court docket in August of last yr, who alleged he was the sufferer in the August 2020 incident cited by DOI.

The student claimed Richman sexually harassed and choked him right up until he fell unconscious through the hrs-extensive physical exam, in accordance to the match.

Richman was employed by the BOE from January 1999 till he resigned in January 2021 in the middle of this investigation. At that time, he acquired a wage of $193,730.

Richman, in a assertion, explained, “Today, I recognized obligation for misusing my Board of Elections of the Town of New York’s place of work for impermissible political functions. Soon after serving the Board of Elections for much more than 22 several years, in courtroom currently, I acknowledged my lapse of judgment. I sincerely apologize for this.”

His attorney, Arnold Kriss, said “there was no sexual harassment or sexual misconduct” fully commited by his customer.