Committee Recommends No Action Against Rep. McMurtry In Sexual Harassment Probe

A special committee investigating whether Rep. Paul McMurtry violated the House sexual harassment policy concluded in a report Wednesday that there was "insufficient evidence" to support allegations that he inappropriately touched an incoming lawmaker as orientation for freshman in December.

The public report, a 15-page executive summary filed by House counsel early Wednesday evening, indicated that a special committee of House Democrats and Republicans voted unanimously to recommend that no action be taken against McMurtry.

The committee had been appointed by House Speaker Robert DeLeo and House Minority Leader Brad Jones to investigate the allegations that McMurtry "inappropriately touched the backside of a female Representative-elect" at a cocktail party at UMass Amherst during a training for new House lawmakers in December.

"It's my hope that the outcome is positive and I'm just going to continue to participate in the process until my name is cleared," McMurtry told the News Service Wednesday afternoon, before the report was filed.