State Sen. Kevin Parker at a National Night Out event in Brooklyn in 2019.
File Photo by Caroline Ourso
Brooklyn state Sen. Kevin Parker has denied allegations he raped a woman in 2004, days after the woman filed a bombshell lawsuit against him under the Adult Survivors Act.
Parker was sued on Friday in Brooklyn Supreme Court by Olga Jean-Baptiste, who claims the longtime Senator raped her at her apartment after discussing her trip to Haiti to deliver relief supplies following catastrophic flooding there. The suit was first reported by amNewYork Metro on Sunday.
On Wednesday, Parker said that the allegations are “absolutely untrue.”
“While I cannot comment on the specifics of this litigation, I am completely confident in assuring my constituents, colleagues, and supporters these allegations are absolutely untrue,” Parker said in a statement. “My work and advocacy will continue.”
A spokesperson for Parker, a Brooklyn Democrat who was first elected to the Senate in 2002 and was in his first term at the time of the alleged incident, did not respond to a request for further comment.
Jean-Baptiste’s lawyer, Bob Hilliard, said in response that Parker’s denial is “a story as old as time.”
“Abusers always deny,” Hilliard said.
A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said the allegations are “deeply disturbing,” but the matter is not currently under investigation internally by the Senate, due to the ongoing litigation in court.
“The allegations are deeply disturbing and there is a legal proceeding being undertaken,” said the spokesperson, Mike Murphy. “We will continue to monitor the situation and take appropriate action as more information is learned.”
In her lawsuit, Jean-Baptiste said that after returning from her trip to Haiti in 2004, Parker — who represents a large Haitian and Caribbean community in Flatbush — came to her apartment to discuss the trip and review photos. But when she got up to say…
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