A statehouse sex-attack sufferer has revealed excruciating particulars of her assault by a former prime aide to then-Meeting Speaker Sheldon Silver as a part of a lawsuit over the Meeting’s dealing with of her predator.
Rikki Shaw was the legislative director to the Meeting Labor Committee when she accused ex-Silver aide Michael Boxley years in the past of sexually assaulting her.
Shaw remained publicly unnamed as Boxley pleaded responsible in December 2003 to at least one rely of sexual misconduct as a misdemeanor in her case. He finally obtained a sentence of six years of probation and a $1,000 fantastic and was required to register as a intercourse offender.
Shaw, who then recognized herself as Boxley’s sufferer this previous October, has now filed an affidavit in a civil lawsuit introduced in opposition to the state by former Meeting staffer Elizabeth Crothers, who accused Boxley of rape earlier than Shaw.
An inner probe by the Meeting had cleared Boxley within the Crothers case earlier than he assaulted Shaw.
“I used to be raped by Michael Boxley in my very own condo,” Shaw stated in an affidavit filed within the case, which The Submit obtained.
She stated that evening, she went to the hospital and was “terrified” to speak to police after listening to how Crothers was smeared by Meeting officers for accusing Boxley of raping her. The Crothers case was not criminally prosecuted.
“I had seen what occurred to Elizabeth Crothers … and I didn’t wish to see the identical factor occur to me,” Shaw stated within the affidavit.
She stated the statehouse promoted a vulture-like tradition encouraging highly effective males to abuse younger ladies.
Legislative staffers have been required to go to bars and eating places to mingle with politicians and lobbyists to debate enterprise after hours, she stated.
“Attendance at these occasions was not optionally available,” Shaw stated.
Because the highly effective speaker’s aide, Boxley required her and Assemblywoman Susan John, her boss, to hitch him for dinner with lobbyists.
She stated Boxley groomed her, calling her a “rising star” and vowing to mentor her profession.
“New York State continues to be haunted by these instances as a result of there was—and nonetheless is—no significant offender accountability when sexual assaults are disclosed,” Shaw, 45, instructed The Submit.
“When Elizabeth reached out a decade in the past to ask if I wished to testify within the Working Group’s sexual harassment hearings, I stated no — all I wished was to rock my infants and have a tendency my backyard in anonymity.”
However Shaw modified her thoughts about going public as a sex-abuse sufferer after Crothers filed a civil swimsuit in 2023 in opposition to the Meeting and the State of New York below the Grownup Survivors Act.
Crothers accused the state of selling a hostile work surroundings, sexual harassment and negligence.
The Grownup Survivors Act supplied victims with a one-year lookback window to file lawsuits in instances the place the statute of limitations had handed. The case continues to be being litigated.
State Lawyer Basic Letitia James oversees the regulation division that defends businesses, and her workplace is contesting the case.
“Greater than 20 years after I used to be raped, Albany continues to be defending the politically related as an alternative of holding predators accountable,” Shaw stated.
“If I stayed quiet there could be extra pressured encounters, that’s about energy and management.”
She recalled having dinner with Boxley and John, her direct supervisor who chaired the labor committee on the time.
Shaw stated she felt drugged when Boxley abused her on the evening of June 10, 2003.
Shaw unmasked herself as a sufferer final October, in an interview with WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
Boxley gave a sworn deposition within the Crothers case the place he took the Fifth Modification in opposition to self-incrimination greater than 40 occasions.
“I deny any wrongdoing involving the claimant Ms. Crothers and in any other case, upon the recommendation of counsel, I respectfully invoke my Fifth Modification privilege in opposition to self-incrimination and respectfully decline to reply your query,” Boxley stated repeatedly when questioned by Crothers’ lawyer, Aaron Stark.
Crothers’ lawyer requested Boxley at one level, “And did you allow as in response to the allegations of Ricki Shaw that you simply had raped her at her condo.”
Boxley stated, “For the file, I pled to a misdemeanor. I didn’t plead to rape.”
Crothers’ lawyer stated, “So that you stated you left the Meeting earlier than you pled responsible to the misdemeanor sexual misconduct. That’s what you pled responsible to, right?”
Boxley replied, “That’s within the allocution, sure, that’s right.”
Silver, who would later be convicted of kickback schemes and died in jail in 2022, got here below a firestorm of criticism for issuing an announcement saying he believed that Boxley could be exonerated, earlier than the Meeting probe obtained below approach. Crothers stated Silver all however dismissed her rape claims.
Boxley left the Meeting later in 2003 earlier than his conviction within the Shaw assault case .
He’s listed on linkedin as a non-public lawyer and advisor.
He beforehand labored for a prime Albany lobbying agency.
Boxley didn’t return a Submit request for remark.
