Ex-Virginia governor says he's contesting harassment probe
L. Douglas Wilder says he is contesting an investigator's finding that he kissed a university student six decades his junior without her consent. Wilder posted on his website Monday that he has filed a statement with Virginia Commonwealth University rejecting an investigator's findings. The student, Sydney Black, has previously filed a complaint to police and school officials, saying Wilder took her to dinner on her 20th birthday, gave her alcohol and kissed her. An independent investigator recently found that Wilder had kissed Black without consent but cleared him of other wrongdoing. Wilder, who was the nation's first elected black governor and teaches at VCU, denied "any non-consensual sexual contact."
Former Virginia Gov. Doug Wilder pushes back on harassment allegations
Former Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder leaves U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia after he testified at former Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell's sentencing hearing January 6, 2015, in Richmond, Virginia. L. Douglas Wilder is pushing back against sexual harassment allegations made by a student six decades his junior. Wilder thanked his supporters and called the allegations "baseless" in a tweet Friday. His comments came a day after The Washington Post reported on a Virginia Commonwealth University-commissioned investigation that found Wilder had kissed student Sydney Black without her consent. The investigation also cleared Wilder of three other allegations the student made: sexual exploitation, sex-based discrimination and retaliation.