Murphy staffer says reports of sexual assault by another staffer were ignored

A member of the Murphy administration has accused a fellow staffer of sexual assault and says that her attempts to report the crime have been ignored.
Staffer Katie Brennan had accused another staffer, Albert Alvarez, of sexually assaulting her after a campaign event on April 8, 2017.
Brennan says that Alvarez allegedly asked to come in to use the bathroom in her home and then allegedly attacked her.
Alvarez has denied the allegations. He resigned from Gov. Phil Murphy’s staff on Oct. 2.
“I wish we hadn’t made the hire in transition, period,” Murphy said Monday. “I’m sick to my stomach once I heard what happened.”
Brennan says that she was examined at the hospital and reported what happened to police. But she says nothing happened. She says that she also informed the transition team about the allegations. But Alvarez was hired to a top position within the Murphy administration.
Brennan told the Wall Street Journal that she emailed the governor and his wife on June 1, asking to speak with them about a "sensitive matter.” That meeting never happened. Murphy says that no one on his staff told him there was a sexual assault allegation.
Murphy also says that his staff was prevented from notifying him due to confidentiality rules.
“Cases come up all the time as it relates to employment issues. There’s a confidentiality that must be adhered to, particularly in this case when I knew both parties,” Murphy said.
An outside firm will conduct an investigation into the transition office’s hiring and vetting practices. That investigation will be due by the end of the year.
Brennan declined to be interviewed by News 12 New Jersey, but issued a statement.
"I decided to come forward because I know that Al Alvarez, and all perpetrators, must be held accountable, must never rape again, and the justice system needs a complete change with regard to sexual violence,” Brennan said in a statement.
The governor says that things also need to change.
“We’re not where we need to be, either as a country or certainly a state,” he said. “I can’t do anything about the country but we can do something about New Jersey.”
The New Jersey Office of the Attorney General announced that Brennan’s case will be transferred from Hudson to the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office for investigation.
The governor says he will meet with Brennan about her case, along with his wife, who has previously spoken out about her own sexual assault.