A man accused of groping a 15-year-old girl at a Donald Trump rally in Wisconsin will not face charges, but the girl has been recommended for disorderly conduct charges for punching the man in the face, police said.
The teen, identified in media reports as Alex Drake, is accused of throwing a punch at David Crandall, the man she alleged had grabbed her breast, Janesville Police Chief David Moore said Thursday, the New York Daily News reported.
Police Chief David Moore said investigators interviewed 13 witnesses and reviewed 40 to 50 images and videos of the altercation and found no evidence that the girl had been groped during the argument, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
“We did not find evidence of a sexual assault,” Chief Moore said. “The video does not support evidence of a sexual assault. It does support that a punch was delivered by the 15-year-old and it certainly supports that the [pepper spray] was sprayed into the face of the 15-year-old.”
The police chief said Mr. Crandall, 59, did not wish to pursue assault charges against the girl, but police have referred her to juvenile authorities on a tentative disorderly conduct charge, the State Journal reported.
At a press conference Thursday, police said they are still seeking information on the man who pepper-sprayed the girl in the face. The man seen in video footage widely circulated on social media had a beard and glasses, and was wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat.
Asked why none of the 250 police officers working that day stopped the man immediately after the altercation, Chief Moore said that Mr. Trump “had either not spoken yet or was in the process of delivering a speech,” and that the officers’ first priority was to “assure freedom of speech, to assure the safety of all,” the State Journal reported.
“The immediacy of the safety issue was over very quickly,” he added. “We saw that that victim got assistance and aid and we knew that we could follow up on this matter later.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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