FOPPOLI RESIGNS AS WINDSOR MAYOR AFTER ALLEGATIONS OF NINTH WOMAN REVEALED

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Weeks after virtually every elected official in Sonoma County and thousands of residents called for his resignation, embattled Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli finally did just that on Friday. Foppoli stepped down after it was revealed that a ninth woman, reality TV personality Farrah Abraham had accused the then Windsor mayor of sexual assaulting her in Florida. Abraham told authorities that the now former Windsor mayor sexually assaulted her in the city of Palm Beach in March.

The resignation came just hours after reporters for the San Francisco Chronicle attempted to contact Foppoli about charges filed by Abraham with the Palm Beach Police Department. Those charges were made weeks ago near the start of April, and before the original Chronicle story in which four women accused Foppoli of sexual abuse and assault.

According to the Florida attorney representing the latest alleged victim, Abraham was able to provide physical evidence supporting her claims, including photos, video and audio recordings.

Since the original story was published by the Chronicle on April 8th, four additional women had come forward to accuse the 38 year old Foppoli of assault. Those women included fellow Windsor city councilmember Esther Lemus, and most recently former Sonoma mayor Rachel Hundley who claims Foppoli assaulted her in 2015 while they were both attending a conference.

In his resignation letter, which was addressed to the citizens of Windsor, Foppoli continued to insist that he never engaged in non-consensual sexual acts and said he did not want his “lawful, but poor choices” to have a continuing negative impact on the Windsor community.

At the time of the latest alleged sexual assault, Foppoli was in the Palm Beach area on a trip ostensibly arranged to market Christopher Creek wines. Foppoli was recently asked to resign as CEO of that winery at the insistence of his brother.

On April 15th, just a week after the first allegations were published in the Chronicle, Foppoli presided at an extraordinary emergency meeting of the Windsor Town Council called to ask for his resignation. After fellow councilmembers and hundreds of citizens joined the virtual meeting to demand his resignation, Foppoli abrupted left the event, leaving his fellow councilmembers and citizens to continue without him.

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating local allegations against Foppoli. The results of that investigation will be forwarded to the state Attorney General’s Office for possible prosecution depending upon what evidence the investigation uncovers. The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office recused itself from the case since one of the accusers, Windsor Town Councilmember Esther Lemus, is also employed as a deputy district attorney in that office.