A MARRIED woman in upstate New York claims Governor Andrew Cuomo grabbed her face and kissed her cheek at her home during a visit to inspect local flood damage. Sherry Vill appeared at a press conference on March 29 with lawyer Gloria Allred. Who is Sherry Vill and what did she say about Andrew Cuomo? […]
A MARRIED woman in upstate New York claims Governor Andrew Cuomo grabbed her face and kissed her cheek at her home during a visit to inspect local flood damage.
Sherry Vill appeared at a press conference on March 29 with lawyer Gloria Allred.
Sherry Vill, 55, described a spring 2017 visit to her Rochester-area home by the governor after flooding took place near Lake Ontario.
“The governor looked at me, approached me, took my hand and pulled me to him,” she said.
“He leaned down over me and kissed my cheek. I was holding my small dog in my arms and I thought he was going to pet my dog. But instead he went to squeeze between the dog.”
“[He kissed] me on the other cheek in what I felt was a highly sexual manner,” she added, later noting that the governor “towered” over her five-foot frame.
“He said, ‘That’s what Italians do, kiss both cheeks,’” Vill said.
“I felt shocked and didn’t understand what had just happened.
“But I knew I felt embarrassed and weird about the kissing. I am Italian, and in my family, family members kiss. Strangers do not kiss.”
Cuomo again allegedly grabbed Vill’s face and kissed her on the cheek outside the house and in front of her son, who was filming the visit.
Additionally, Vill shared a copy of a July 19, 2017, letter she received from the governor in which he said he would help homeowners affected by the flooding.
“It was a pleasure to meet you recently,” he wrote.
The letter was only addressed to Vill, who questioned why it wasn’t addressed to her husband or son, whom the governor also met.
She said she received a phone call “within days” from a female employee on Cuomo’s staff who said the governor was having an event in town and asked if Vill would like to attend.
“Notably she didn’t say my husband and I, or my family and I, only specifically me,” she said.
“I purposely did not respond to the invitation. I felt very uneasy about the call. I was the only one who received the call and the personal invite form the governor.”
Allred said Vill wanted to report his conduct – but some members of her family discouraged her from filing a complaint to protect her.
The lawyer described how her client feared if she made what happened to her public the governor might use his power to retaliate against her and family.
“Women like Sherry will no longer be silent – will refuse to be intimidated by powerful men,” Allred said.
“We are very proud of Sherry and want due process for governor but also victims.”
Cuomo has been accused of inappropriate behavior by eight women in the last few months, and there has been bullying claims as well.
The governor has denied touching anyone inappropriately but said he’s sorry if he made anyone uncomfortable.
Many top Democrats have called on Cuomo to resign, but he has refused to do so.
