Disgraced California mayor facing sex assault suit from reality TV star ordered to pay $13M to seven victims

A former California mayor was hit with a roughly $13 million verdict after a jury found him liable for sexually assaulting seven women — while he still faces another sexual assault lawsuit by a famous realty TV star.

A jury this week found Dominic Foppoli, the former mayor of Windsor in Sonoma County, liable for the sexual assault of seven anonymous women in a civil trial. More payments could be imposed, as a hearing is set for Tuesday to determine punitive damages.

“This is a huge victory for a lot of people, starting with the Jane Does,” said plaintiffs’ attorney Gina Fortino Dickson.

Foppoli, 44, was accused by multiple women of sexual assaults, many involving alcohol, in a 2021 expose by the San Francisco Chronicle. The assaults alleged in the lawsuit spanned nearly two decades from 2001 to 2020, the women said.

A former campaign volunteer, who was 18, accused the Democratic politician of assaulting her twice, including one night after a boozy New Year’s Eve celebration.

Another accuser claimed that Foppoli brought her to his home and tried pull her pants off. He also allegedly forced another woman to perform oral sex after a convention, and in a separate incident, a winery intern in her twenties alleged she was forcibly groped and kissed.

Foppoli has denied any wrongdoing and his attorney said he will seek a mistrial over the exclusion of a defense witness, the Daily Mail reported.

“This was a trial about seven self-reported accounts of by the plaintiffs. And like I said in the closing, we’re not saying they all lied about things they testified about. It’s possible to be sincere and mistaken or have a distorted view,” said defense attorney Andrew Watters, according to ABC7.

“I just know in heart that I did not assault any of these people who were in court today and it’s unfortunate that the jury didn’t see that,” Foppoli said Friday.

The Santa Rosa chapter of the Active 20-30 Club, an all-male charity social club of which Foppoli was a member, was also found liable and was ordered to pay $2 million to one of the women.

Foppoli has never been charged with a crime related to the allegations, a potential reason why the women proceeded with civil litigation instead. Criminal investigations were opened, but investigators said they lacked sufficient evidence to move forward.

Foppoli resigned as mayor in May 2021, weeks after the allegations first surfaced. Last year, he considered a political comeback for his old job.

The former mayor is still facing a separate civil lawsuit filed by reality TV star Farrah Abraham, who starred in the MTV reality television series “16 and Pregnant.”

In April 2021, Abraham filed a report with the Palm Beach Police Department alleging Foppoli drugged and raped her in Florida the previous month. Abraham said she had been to a wine tasting event with Foppoli and had no memory of what happened afterward, but she allegedly provided police with photos and videos of the encounter.

The former mayor has disrupted her claims, and her civil case is expected to go to trial early next year.

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