PATTERN

Two More Women Accuse Costa Rica President Oscar Arias of Sexual Assault

The assaults allegedly occurred over the past three decades.

Two more women have accused former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, of sexual misconduct. On Monday, a woman filed a criminal complaint alleging that the former president sexually assaulted her four years ago. The complaint charges that in 2014 Arias fondled her breasts, kissed her, and penetrated her with his fingers. Following the complaint, Eleonora Antillon, a well-known Costa Rican journalist and TV presenter, came forward and told The Associated Press that Arias assaulted her in the mid-1980s when she was working for his presidential campaign. Separately, Emma Daly, the communications director for Human Rights Watch, said Arias groped her in 1990 when she was working as a young journalist based in Costa Rica. The New York Times also reported that a fourth woman alleged that Arias unexpectedly put his hand on her leg during a meeting in 2012.

Arias was twice elected president of Costa Rica, and in 1987, was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize for his work bringing an end to Central America’s deadly civil wars.

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Former President of Costa Rica Accused of Sexual Assault

Audrey McNamara