New accuser of US candidate Cain goes public

Sharon Bialek

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – A woman accused Republican  presidential hopeful Herman Cain today of improperly  touching her in 1997, going public with ugly allegations that  may create more trouble for his campaign.
Sharon Bialek said Cain made an unwanted advance after  dinner together in Washington when she asked him to help her  find a job after she had been laid off by the National  Restaurant Association, which he headed.
Bialek, who identified herself as a registered Republican  and single mother from Chicago, put a public face on a growing  problem for Cain’s campaign. The 65-year-old candidate quickly  denied the woman’s charges, saying all allegations of sexual  harassment against him were “completely false.”

Sharon Bialek
Sharon Bialek

At least two other women had lodged formal complaints  against Cain when he was head of the restaurant association,  but Bialek was the first to appear in public and make a  statement before a phalanx of television cameras.
Cain, a former pizza company executive with no experience  in political office, has been leading many opinion polls in the  race to become the Republican presidential nominee to face  Democratic President Barack Obama in next year’s election.
Bialek, appearing with famed celebrity lawyer Gloria  Allred, said her boyfriend at the time helped arrange a meeting  with Cain to discuss employment after meeting him at a Chicago  convention.
After dinner, Cain drove her toward the National Restaurant  Association offices and then parked nearby.
“Instead of going into the offices, he suddenly reached  over and he put his hand on my leg, under my skirt and reached  for my genitals. He also grabbed my head and brought it toward  his crotch. I was very, very surprised and very, very shocked,”  Bialek said.
“I said: ‘What are you doing? You know I have a boyfriend.  This isn’t what I came here for.’ Mr. Cain said, ‘You want a  job, right?’ I asked him to stop, and he did. I asked him to  take me back to my hotel, which he did, right away,” Bialek  said.
CAIN DENIAL
Cain spokesman J.D. Gordon said Cain, 65, had never  harassed anyone.
“Just as the country finally begins to refocus on our  crippling $15 trillion national debt and the unacceptably high  unemployment rate, now activist celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred  is bringing forth more false accusations against the character  of Republican front-runner Herman Cain,” he said.
The latest development came just two days before Republican  candidates gather in Rochester, Michigan, on Wednesday night  for the latest in a series of campaign debates.
At least three women have accused Cain of sexual harassment  from his time as the restaurant industry’s top lobbyist in the  mid-1990s.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Sunday showed the  percentage of Republicans who viewed Cain favorably dropped 9  percentage points, to 57 percent from 66 percent a week ago.
The survey was the first evidence that sexual harassment  claims against Cain had taken a toll on his presidential  aspirations.
A woman who received a cash settlement from the restaurant  association in response to her harassment claim rejected Cain’s  denials on Friday. She said through her lawyer she was the  victim of a “series of inappropriate behaviors and unwanted  advances” by Cain in 1999.
One of Cain’s Republican presidential adversaries called on  Sunday for more information on the allegations.
“It has got to come out in total,” Republican presidential  hopeful Jon Huntsman told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.  “Legitimate questions have been raised and that information has  to come forward.”
Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul said on “Fox  News Sunday” that the media went too far in covering the  allegations, distracting voters from more important issues.
“The media blew this way out of proportion,” Paul said.     “There are a thousand stories out there and I think that  dilutes the real debates, because (Cain’s) views on foreign  policy for instance are dramatically different than mine.”