Calls for Manhattan D.A. to resign over doctor's abuse case
Women who say they were sexually assaulted by a New York obstetrician are demanding Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance resign over his handling of the case. One of those who's .
Vance's office declined to charge Weinstein in 2015 after model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez wore a police wire to record Weinstein discussing an alleged assault. After dozens of women accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct in explosive media exposés, Vance's office charged him in May 2018 in connection with two other allegations of rape and sexual assault. His trial on those charges is now underway.
In a different case involving Jeffrey Epstein, a judge expressed shock in 2011 when a prosecutor from Vance's office argued that Epstein should have been given the lowest level sex offender status — the same status later given to Hadden.
"Under Cy Vance's leadership, the Manhattan DA's office and specifically their sex crimes unit and special victims bureau failed to protect and fight for survivors against rich, white and powerful men who committed countless sexual assaults. It is time that Cy Vance resign," Rivera said.
In a statement to CBS News, Vance did not address the calls for his resignation, but defended the sex crimes unit, which he said " fights day in and day out for survivors of sex crimes — helping them to obtain justice, vital services, and critical public policy changes — irrespective of the wealth, power, or race of their assailants."
"Our record of success makes clear that our career prosecutors do not shrink from the challenge of prosecuting powerful men," Vance said.
He added that he supports the victims of Hadden, calling the doctor a "serial sexual predator."
At the protest Thursday, Hadden's accusers said they want other allegations against the doctor to be given a fresh look by a new prosecutor. Dayna Solomon, who said she was abused by the doctor over the course of nine years as a patient, said Vance had a moral obligation to seek a harsher punishment against Hadden.
"If Cyrus Vance's priority was to protect people he would have taken that moral action that was so painfully clear, and so obvious and so warranted," she said.
No matter their income or education, women get stuck with the lion's share of unpaid work
