Connecticut Republican politician, Christopher von Keyserling was arrested for sexually assaulting a woman with whom he got into a heated political disagreement. He is charged with fourth-degree sexual assault after being caught on a security camera pinching the genitals of the woman.
According to the Westport Daily Voice, the 71-year-old longtime member of the Greenwich town council, encountered the unnamed woman along the hallway of an unnamed town facility on Dec. 8. She told him it was "a new world" politically, to which he reportedly replied, "I love this new world, I no longer have to be politically correct."
After some serious exchange of angry words and heated political dispute including Von Keyserling calling the woman a lazy, bloodsucking employee, he followed the woman into her office, wanting to talk to her co-worker. The co-worker who refused to talk to him left the office shortly. The first woman attempted to follow after her to leave, at which point Von Keyserling "reached in from behind to place his hand between her legs and pinch her in the groin area" according to the police arrest warrant.
She then threatened to punch him if he ever tried that again, and he replied, "It would be your word against mine, nobody will believe you," the warrant said. Police said the woman's statement pertaining the order of events that happened is consistent with the footage of the incident caught on security camera.
The woman who later found out that it is not the first time he had behaved in such manner with other employees, filed a criminal complaint on him.
Von Keyserling and his lawyer characterized the assault to be a "playful gesture" and attempted to portray the incident as a mere joke. His lawyer told Greenwich Time, "There was a playful gesture. It was too trivial to be considered anything of significance. To call it a sexual assault is not based in reality."
Von Keyserling was released on a $2,500 bail and is set to appear in court on Jan. 25.
