Chilean President Gabriel Boric Denies Sexual Harassment Allegations
(Bloomberg) -- Chile President Gabriel Boric’s lawyer said sexual harassment allegations against the head of state are false as a new scandal grips the government, just weeks after a former top official was charged with rape.
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Jonatan Valenzuela told reporters Tuesday that the accuser and Boric exchanged 25 e-mails between 2013 and 2014, and that those messages show the president himself was the victim of harassment.
In a statement late on Monday, Valenzuela said the accuser had filed a formal complaint with prosecutors in Boric’s native region of Magallanes on Sept. 6, 2024. Those accusations include claims that Boric shared “private images.”
“The president categorically rejects and denies the content of this complaint,” Valenzuela said on Tuesday, adding that Boric has nothing to hide. “The president has been victim of a series of acts that will become perfectly established in the investigation.”
Boric and the accuser had never had a relationship, nor were they friends, the lawyer said.
Local news channel TVN published all 25 e-mails cited by the lawyer, one of which allegedly contained seven explicit images sent by the accuser. Boric didn’t reply to that message or any of the subsequent notes she sent, according to TVN. The accuser finally alleges Boric had manipulated her and threatens legal action if he ever shows the photos to anyone. It is not clear what happened a decade later to trigger the allegations.
The incident is a blow to a government that’s already facing intense scrutiny after ex-Undersecretary Manuel Monsalve stepped down in October and was later charged with rape. Critics say top officials including Boric and Interior Minister Carolina Toha reacted too slowly to the complaint against the former official. Both cases are especially damaging to an administration that has embraced feminism and prioritized women’s rights.
Boric agreed to make the accusations public now because a month had passed without any contact from prosecutors and he wants the investigation to advance, government spokeswoman Camila Vallejo told reporters later on Tuesday. When asked if the president ever shared any content from the exchanges with the accuser, she replied “no, at no point.”
At the time of the alleged actions in 2013 and 2014, Boric, who is now 38 years old, was doing an internship, according to Valenzuela. He and the accuser have not had any contact since 2014, Valenzuela added.
(Updates with comments from government spokeswoman in eighth paragraph)
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