Scandal in attorney general’s office reaches back 7 months

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COLUMBUS (AP) — A sexual harassment scandal inside Attorney General Marc Dann’s office began about seven months ago when aides overlooked the concerns of a staff member who tried to raise the issue with human resources, according to transcripts of a recently concluded investigation.

Mariellen Aranda, a telecommunication assistant, voiced her concerns on Oct. 10. But despite the early warning, Dann’s office didn’t launch a formal investigation until April, when the complaints became public in news reports.

Investigators released their results Friday, the same day that Dann, Ohio’s top law enforcer, acknowledged that he had an extramarital affair with a subordinate and failed to stop problems that led to the harassment scandal. Three of his aides were forced out of their jobs, and another resigned.

Aranda told investigators that she spoke to human resources officials because she was bothered by the behavior of Anthony Gutierrez, a section chief who later became the focus of the probe when two 26-year-old women in the office accused him in March of making unwanted come-ons and pressuring them for sex.

Aranda said she had been a witness to some of Gutierrez’s comments.

“I couldn’t handle it anymore, with the sexual inappropriateness, the ethics issues that I was concerned about, the — with everything,” Aranda said in her testimony to investigators. “I just — I couldn’t handle it anymore, and I needed to talk to someone, because I was concerned.

“I mean, I — I knew — I hadn’t been in state government for long, but I knew enough that this was a ticking time bomb for the office.”

The investigation concluded that officials in Dann’s office never reprimanded Gutierrez beyond verbal warnings. Gutierrez was fired as a result of the investigation, along with Leo Jennings, Dann’s communications director who was accused of trying to get a staff member to lie when interviewed under oath.

Edgar Simpson, Dann’s policy chief, was forced to resign for failing to address inappropriate behavior. Simpson had knowledge of Gutierrez’s history of policy violations, the investigation report said.

The scandal has marred Dann, one of several Democrats swept into office in 2006 after a scandal over state investments sullied Republicans.

Ohio Republicans have called on Dann to resign, something he says he won’t do. Dann has apologized and appointed an outside group to make management and personnel changes to the office.

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