Saturday, April 12, 2008

Former Globe editor's boss ensnarled in sex scandal

It must not be too pleasant these days in former Joplin Globe Editor Edgar Simpson's workplace.
Simpson's boss, Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann and others in the office have become ensnarled in what appears to be a brewing sex scandal, according to published accounts. One of Dann's top assistants, Anthony Gutierrez, has been accused of sexual harassment, which allegedly happened at the attorney general's apartment, with Dann present and Dann's scheduler, a female, was dressed in pajamas:

On March 31, Vanessa Stout and Cindy Stankoski, both 26, filed written complaints with the attorney general's office alleging that Gutierrez had plied them with drinks, touched them inappropriately and asked them for sex.

On one occasion last September at the Dublin condo shared by Dann, Gutierrez and Jennings, Stankoski said in her complaint that she awoke after an evening of drinking to find three buttons of her pants undone and Gutierrez beside her wearing only underwear. Dann helped persuade her to come to the condo that night, promising her over Gutierrez's cell phone that he would get the Hawaiian pizza she requested.

When she still expressed reluctance, Gutierrez assured her there would be no problem since she would be hanging out with the "big dogs," the complaint said.

Stankoski said that when she arrived, Dann's scheduler, Jessica Utovich, 28, was in the apartment with Dann wearing pajamas. Both Dann and Utovich have declined to comment.

Chris Redfern, the Ohio Democratic chairman, said Dann denied to him that Utovich was at his condo in her pajamas. The situation, the state representative from northern Ohio says, appears to be limited to a case of a bad employee.

"No one has alleged that the attorney general has done anything inappropriate," Redfern said.


According to the Columbus Dispatch article, Dann has called on a lawyer and part-time lobbyist on his staff to serve as an "independent" investigator. Normally, disciplinary actions for the attorney general's office are handled by Simpson, who serves as Dann's chief of staff.

1 comment:

Tom Hanna said...

In her pajamas! So she was BLOGGING!