SARATOGA SPRINGS — She wanted to be a CIA agent.
So when a Spa City woman in 2017 read about a ribbon-cutting for a new business run by Shaun Wiggins, who identified himself as a former clandestine officer for the agency, it seemed like the perfect next step.
Six years later, her lawsuit alleges that Wiggins ensnared her in an 18-month campaign of deception and sexual manipulation — conducted under the premise that he was taking her through a “training exercise” for a career in espionage.
“I own you … you must accept that … for all of this to work … this is not for fun … not a game … this is VERY real … you do what I say,” Wiggins told the woman, according to excerpts of WhatsApp text messages included in a 58-page lawsuit filed Tuesday in state Supreme Court in Manhattan. The civil action, first reported by the Daily Beast, was filed under the provisions of the state Adult Survivors Act, which in November opened a one-year “look-back window” for previously time-barred sexual abuse claims.
The lawsuit said the woman, believing she had no choice but to comply, told Wiggins what he wanted to hear due to the fear of scrapping her chances for a CIA post.
Jon Bell, an attorney for Wiggins, told the Times Union on Friday that his client denies the allegations. He said that due to the ongoing litigation, he could not comment in greater detail.
“The allegations are false. I expect my client to be completely exonerated, and we will vigorously defend this lawsuit,” Bell said in a phone interview. “He’s going to come out innocent and fully exonerated.”
Wiggins, 59, is a prominent member of the Saratoga Springs community. He ran for a seat on the city’s school board in 2019 and for a county supervisor seat in 2022 — both times without success. Amid the tumult that followed the 2020 death of George Floyd, Wiggins — who is Black — chaired a “community…
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