Did Hogsett Know About Former Aide's Harassment Allegations

A few weeks back, Indy Star’s James Briggs and Hayleigh Colombo reported on a sex scandal in the Indy Mayor’s Office. They found Mayor Joe Hogsett’s right-hand man Thomas Cook was allegedly harassing and, in some cases, assaulting women. New information is now coming to light, with major suspicion of the mayor covering it all up.

Mirror Indy reporters Peter Blanchard, Ryan Martin, and Jenna Watson spoke with two women who first-handily experienced sexual harassment from Hogsett’s former aide Thomas Cook.

Former city staffer Caroline Ellert and former campaign staffer Lauren Roberts, who both worked for Cook, sat down to discuss how not only how they were treated by Cook, but the sheer lack of responsibility the Hogsett team has taken since.

Read the full interview with Ellert and Roberts here. 

Roberts says the way Cook treated her led her to resign from her position with Joe Hogsett’s mayoral campaign in 2015. Ellert talked about the boundaries she asserted in her communications with Cook and his reactions.

Listen to the audio highlights below: 

Hammer and Nigel are calling out Hogsett for letting an employee not only treat others in this way, but to continue to turn a blind eye to the harassment.

“If Joe Hogsett knew about this, he needs to resign. He needs to resign. And the city county council, I get it, it’s very Democratic heavy, I understand that, but do the right thing… He knew about what was going on, and he did not fire Thomas Carl Cook, as a matter of fact he brought him BACK, for his latest campaign.” 

The guys spoke with Peter and Jenna with Mirror Indy on their investigation. Listen to that full interview below: