#MeToo: Obama CDC head Tom Frieden arrested for groping a woman in New York
A Brooklyn District Attorney confirmed that the former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under President Obama, Tom Frieden, was arraigned in New York on Friday afternoon and released without bail.
CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH Image credit/New York City Department of Health
In the wake of several #MeToo inspired arrests, Frieden was arrested Friday morning amid allegations he groped a woman in his apartment.
According to the New York Police Department, he was charged with forcible touching, sexual abuse and harassment after he allegedly inappropriately touched a woman back in October 2017.
Frieden is accused of grabbing a woman’s buttocks. The woman reported the incident in July, police said.
A spokesperson for Frieden told The Hill that the allegation “does not reflect” his “public or private behavior or his values over a lifetime of service to improve health around the world.”
Frieden was the CDC director from 2009 to 2017, leading the agency during the Ebola epidemic. Prior to that, he served as New York City health commissioner.
Brooklyn Criminal Court Judge Michael Yavinsky issued an order forbidding Frieden from contacting his accuser, according to Helen Peterson, a spokeswoman for the Brooklyn district attorney’s office.
