CONTENT WARNING (Extremely Graphic Descriptions): Sexual Assaults by Former Assembly Chief of Staff Sean Doherty As Described by Former Staff

What I am about to write and you are about to read is disturbing and will be one of the most graphic posts I have ever written. Please exercise discretion with this post. The contents were disturbing enough that I had to take extra time to process what I was told. The brutal reality is that this behavior used to be covered up all the time and that it has been a not uncommon occurrence in the Sacramento Legislative Building.

Sean Doherty is now a registered lobbyist in Washington D.C. and is trying to reinvent himself there. See his filing here, the second filing is here and here is another filing.

It is time for Republican Leaders to Stop Making Political Calculations and Start Exercising Moral Judgement. Being Cowards will not get our Voter Registration to stop its’ free-fall in California. It is time to rid the GOP of monsters like Sean Doherty and “leaders” who are too weak to deal with people like Doherty and others that rampage and abuse people.

One of the disturbing and reviling things Sean Doherty did was require his staff to participate in after hours receptions – and then badger them in to drinking. When I was first told about this several years ago, I did not have multiple witnesses and thus did not write about this previously. What’s worse is that in between his fits of rage he’d threaten to fire staffers that did not drink with him. He’d berate them as bitches and pussies for example.

It is the opinion of this blogger that the drinking exploits were also done in order to loosen up female staff for later exploitation. When I posited that theory to the women I spoke with – the responses I got were beyond what I could have expected.

One of the victims whose graphic and disturbing stories are a focus of this post indicated at one time she attempted to order a Corona in an attempt to not get intoxicated and Doherty rampaged over to the bar loudly castigating her. “My Staffers Drink Double Crown” he exclaimed.

Doherty was also reputed to spend large amounts of money on hotel rooms at expensive hotels while on trips. It is the opinion of the staffers I spoke to this was also done in an attempt to increase his odds of success in his attempts to seduce women while he was away from his family.

In addition to incidences like those I described in previous posts about dropping items on the floor in order to force female staffers to bend down to pick them up and the cat calling, Doherty was known for graphic descriptions of having sex with his wife in the office. They included graphic descriptions of all forms of anal sex, kinky sex, oral sex and climaxing. He told both victims they should file papers on their knees so they would be on their knees in front of him in and among graphic descriptions of oral sex.

He asked one of the victims what her cup size was and was known for critiquing the attire and appearance of the staff. A different staffer reported being criticized about her face in the morning, then being written up that afternoon for “inappropriate dress code”. 

You can imagine why most of the the victims I have talked to regarding Sean Doherty’s rampage ended up in therapy.

One of the victims described to me that Sean Doherty touched her in the buttocks and breasts more than once. Note that the redacted Assembly Rules complaints (not filed by any of my informants by the way – they are two OTHER victims of Sean), also indicated Sean’s pattern of unwanted physical contact.

From an email sent to me (Raw and unedited):

I remember I couldn’t get my lyft app to work some GPS issue it said (later I realized the data for the app had been turned off) and I was panicking. I actually asked this woman in the bathroom for help and said look im really drunk and need to get out of here now and she looked at me didn’t say anything then stepped out to announce to those at the bar “theres a drunk girl in there saying she needs to get out of here.” I immediately freaked out knowing sean probably thought I was trying to get away and was calling and texting my roommate (who also worked in the cap and heard my complaints about sean every day) and begged her to come get me telling her where I was.

After reaching out to her I left the bathroom and sean ended up successfully pulling me outside and told me “you aren’t trying to leave me are you (with this devilish smirk), I got us a suite at the hyatt downtown” as his hand gripped my arm tighter pulling me away from the front of the bar to the side of the building.

It was here that he was able to have me alone in a dim lit area and he pushed me against the wall, telling me “ive been waiting for this all day” had his hands pushing mine onto the wall so I couldn’t move and forced himself on me kissing me and saying “I know you can kiss better than that” as I was literally in tears, couldn’t say much and was not kissing him back and then he shoved his hands down my pants and started fondling me. He said some more disturbing things I cant even bring myself to repeat after this and then as soon as he let one hand off of me I was able to push him off and walk towards the front as I saw a car and was praying it was my roommate but it turned out to be the lyft that he had apparently ordered before this incident and as soon as I was close enough to recognize it wasn’t her car he was trying to shove me into it and right then luckily is when my roommate showed up with her lights on us and I was able to dodge the bullet of god knows what because he recognized her and I think the lights caught his attention enough for me to push away from him and go get in her car.

The next day in the office (he came in late running in and slammed the door of course) he said he wanted to talk to me “about last night” in a stern voice and brought me into his office. He said, “are you okay? I just want to make sure you know you weren’t that bad of a kisser, you don’t need to be ashamed… and you felt good too…and smelled good” I couldn’t say anything I was still so messed up and stunned I literally just nodded and then justin came knocking for a meeting and I immediately ran to my desk at the opening.

This was not the only assault either. This was just the first one and was the turning point for me to realize I was not safe in that office and needed to leave.

Given that this victim ended up in therapy, it is clear that the event was both severe and traumatic. This sort of dynamic is why I never discounted any of the victim’s revelations about what happened between them and Bill Brough. A woman does not end up in therapy for no reason. A woman does not have nightmares over an event for no reason. The victim gave me permission to re-tell this story and I was also told this is the first time she has shared this in such detail.

Those of you reading this blog have a choice – hide behind excuses to ignore this or start accepting the brutal reality that this sort of behavior is common in the body politic. The political landscape is littered with victims of similar abuse.

Sean Doherty has a clear and discernible pattern according to the interviews I had with staffers that worked for him. He preferred young vulnerable women from broken homes he could quickly win the trust of and isolate. The staffer he criticized about her face, then wrote up for dress code had a lot of pre-existing relationships in the building and he attempted to damage and destroy those relationships – including the false rumor about her doing republican volunteer club work on the clock. The victim that Doherty nearly raped was on her first job in the legislature.

Note that Sean Doherty has a still-pending wrongful termination lawsuit against the State of California! I wonder if the court knows about the above incidents?

Sean Doherty needs to be isolated from anything anywhere near politics. It is also my opinion that he should be prosecuted for the things he has done as the statue of limitations has not expired. This expose’ will be continued as more victims have come forward…

P.S. The Assembly Rules Committee apparently was told about a lot of the horrific behavior of Sean Doherty and they appear to have only terminated him. The Staffers that were victimized begged the Rules Committee to refer him for prosecution and it appears they declined to do so.