A Florida politician has resigned from her post as city commissioner of Madeira Beach just days after she was fined $5,000 by the state ethics commission for allegedly sexually assaulting the former city manager by groping him and licking his face.
Nancy Oakley resigned on Wednesday after the city commission publicly censured her for an incident in November 2012 in which then-City Manager Shane Crawford says she attacked him in a sexual manner, according to WFLA TV.
In her resignation letter, Oakley insisted she was innocent of the allegation and planned to appeal the ethics violation ruling, according to WTSP TV.
According to the ethics commission report, the alleged assault happened during a fishing tournament that was meant to honor a sister city in the Bahamas.
Oakley told investigators that she spotted Crawford with Cheryl McGrady, whom he later married.
The Washington Post notes that Crawford and McGrady were seeing other people at the time of the incident and that Oakley suspected they were having an affair.
Oakley, who also admitted she had been drinking, asked that McGrady be removed even though she was acting as deputy city clerk and taking the minutes.
After the meeting, Oakley walked up to Crawford and allegedly licked his neck and the side of his face, and also groped his crotch and buttocks.
When McGrady told Oakley her behavior was inappropriate, Oakley allegedly responded by throwing a punch at McGrady, but missed.
Oakley denies ever licking Crawford’s face ― or the face of any man ― but three other men told investigators that she had licked their faces on other occasions.
Administrative Law Judge Robert S. Cohen, the author of the report, made a keen observation about the accusations:
“The act of licking a person on the face and neck is too unusual to be contrived by multiple witnesses and multiple victims,” he wrote.
Although Oakley plans to appeal the ethics commission ruling, the Tampa Bay Times reports that Oakley’s term was was set to end in March and she had not been planning to run for re-election.