State Sen. Kevin Parker has been accused in a lawsuit of raping a Brooklyn woman two decades ago, an allegation Gov. Hochul described on Monday as “deeply disturbing.”
The lawsuit, filed Friday in Brooklyn Supreme Court, alleges that Parker assaulted the woman, Olga Jean-Baptiste, at her home after she helped coordinate aid to flood victims in Haiti in 2004.
The 10-page lawsuit said Parker visited the woman at her apartment after she traveled to Haiti. During the visit, Parker “held on to both of her wrists with his hands” before leading her to her bedroom and raping her, the lawsuit said.
Parker, a 56-year-old Democrat, did not reply to requests for comment on Monday. He has served in the Senate since 2003 and represents neighborhoods including Flatbush, East Midwood and Flatlands.
The complaint was brought under the state’s Adult Survivors Act, which opened a yearlong window in which the statute of limitations has been lifted for civil lawsuits concerning sexual abuse allegations.
Parker voted in support of the law, which passed the state Senate unanimously in April 2022. The suspension of the statute of limitations is due to expire on Thanksgiving.
Hochul, a Buffalo Democrat who signed the bill into law, told reporters in Manhattan on Monday that she found the allegations against Parker “shocking — absolutely shocking.”
Jean-Baptiste, 49, resides in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn. She declined an interview request on Monday.
“Ms. Jean-Baptiste survived unspeakable sexual abuse perpetrated by Sen. Parker — and continues to suffer from the trauma that only survivors of unwanted sexual assault can fully understand,” her lawyer, Bob Hilliard, said in a statement. “A jury will hear firsthand the full details and horribleness of what happened.”
The governor said she believes the Senate’s Democratic majority leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins of Westchester, will launch an investigation.
A spokesman for Stewart-Cousins said in a statement that she would “take appropriate action as more information is learned.”
“These allegations are extremely disturbing, and we take them very seriously and we will continue to monitor this situation,” Mike Murphy, the spokesman, said in the statement.