The New York Police Department announced on Tuesday that it was closing three investigations into sexual assault allegation brought against chef-magnate Mario Batali, and that no charges would be brought against him
The New York Times reported that of the three women who came forward with claims that Batali had sexually assaulted them in separate incidents at two of his Manhattan restaurants, two could not be prosecuted because their cases lay outside the bounds of New York’s statute of limitations. (The state’s statute of limitations was abolished in 2006, but was not made to apply retroactively.)
In the third case, the Times reported that charges could not be brought because detectives said they could not find sufficient evidence. That case, in which the woman said Batali raped her eight or nine years ago after visiting Manhattan’s the Spotted Pig (where Batali was an investor), was reportedly closed in August. A police official told the Times of the alleged victim, “She couldn’t put the pieces together. Something happened to that victim in that room, but we don’t know if it’s criminal or not.”
Eater first reported allegation against Batali in December 2017. The article contained the accounts of four women who alleged that Batali “touched them inappropriately in a pattern of behavior that appears to span at least two decades.”
A police official told CNN on Tuesday that the department doesn’t have any open cases on Batali. Since the first allegations emerged, at least 18 women have accused Batali of sexual misconduct.