Ardila denies sexual assault allegations in self-funded report

Assemblymember Juan Ardila released a report on Monday denying sexual assault allegations and backtracking on his previous apologies . Photo via Ardila/Twitter

By Ryan Schwach

Assemblymember Juan Ardila has released a report denying that he sexually assaulted two women at a 2015 party, calling the encounters consensual and walking back his apologies nearly three months after the initial accusations broke. 

In the 34-page report, released by Ardila and produced by lawyers he hired, the junior Western Queens lawmaker lays out his own version of the events that transpired at a 2015 Halloween party attended by college students, saying that the interactions with two women were consensual in nature, that the attacks against him have been aided by political rivals and that his initial statements, which included apologies for his behavior, were the result of bad advice.  

Over the last three months, Ardila has remained almost entirely silent about the accusations, frustrating constituents and his colleagues who have, to varying degrees, questioned his ability to govern. He has faced calls to resign from nearly all of his Western Queens colleagues and was stripped of his ability to perform some of the most basic tasks required of an assemblymember.  

But while Ardila promised the report would amend the relationships broken as a result of the accusations, it seems to have done just the opposite. Constituents and lawmakers told the Eagle on Tuesday that despite the report, they still believe it is past time Ardila resigned. 

The allegations, initially reported by the Queens Chronicle on March 13 and followed by the Eagle later that same night, were levied by two women who said Ardila harassed and assaulted them at the party in Manhattan attended by then-current and former Fordham University students, where Ardila had graduated from earlier that year.  

Though previously apologizing for his behavior, Ardila is now saying that he categorically denies that he sexually assaulted anyone. 

“I did not sexually abuse anyone or engage in any sexual assault,” he said in a statement, issued alongside the report’s release on Monday. 

As to why he hasn’t previously denied the allegations – Ardila claims he was told not to by members of the Working Families Party, who withdrew their 2021 endorsement of the lawmaker after the allegations surfaced. 

“I should have unequivocally denied the allegations in my initial statement,” he said. “My not doing so resulted in several individuals falsely claiming that I admitted to sexual misconduct. This led to calls for my resignation from colleagues, the governor, and others.” 

He said his almost complete silence over the last three months, which included dodging Albany and Queens reporters, as well as ignoring calls to his personal phone and staff members, was purposeful – he was waiting for the report to be completed. 

“I did not want to address this matter until the report was concluded and the investigation could run its full course,” he said. “As stated in the report, I attended a party with approximately 20 people in a Manhattan apartment in October 2015. I consensually kissed two women at different times during that night. I categorically deny the allegations against me, and, as the report demonstrates, there are no criminal investigations against me.” 

 “Looking back at the events of that college party, I fully recognize my actions were immature and regrettable, for which I am deeply embarrassed and truly sorry,” he added. 

The report, released first by Ardila to the New York Daily News, was completed by lawyers from Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC, who conducted interviews with Ardila, as well as a handful of partygoers and other friends, whose names and contact information was provided to them by Ardila. Neither of the alleged victims cooperated with the law firm’s investigation. The report redacts the names of the victims, and all other individuals related to the 2015 party.

A section of the report released on Monday, where Ardila described the Manhattan party where the incidents transpired in 2015. Screenshot from Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney report

One of the women, who contacted the Eagle in early March, alleged that Ardila “got handsy” with her on a couch while she was drunk and attempted to lead her into a bathroom before a friend intervened. 

“I was the most intoxicated person there,” she told the Eagle in March. 

“But I do remember being on the couch, in the living room kind of away from everyone else, with Juan and it was towards the very end of the night, so people were starting to leave and the party didn't feel as crowded,” she added. “I remember he and I were close to each other, and he started getting physical with me.”

Ardila said that he recalls the events differently, saying that the two were taking selfies, and at one point kissed before the woman asked him to help her with a costume zipper, which according to the report, Ardila perceived as “an invitation for more intimate contact.” Together, they took a few steps toward a bathroom before the woman’s friend intervened – in an interview with the authors of the report, one of Ardila’s current staffers referred to the intervention as “c–kblocking.”  

While the report says that the first victim does not “have a clear memory,” of the incident, it also disputes the idea that she was heavily intoxicated, with Ardila claiming that she was “not unstable or wobbly.” However, he did also say she was “maybe drunk” to the lawyers. 

The report relies on several accounts from people at the party, whose names were provided to the law firm solely by Ardila. Some of those interviewed for the report only had knowledge of second hand accounts of the party.

Of the eight people related to the party interviewed by the law firm, four said they had no real recollection of the party or what Ardila was doing with the accusers that night. The other four were either not present at the party, not sure if they were present at the party or only had second hand information about what had or had not occurred. 

One of the witnesses who did tell the attorneys they recalled the night – a college friend that is still in contact with Ardila – said he remembered Ardila speaking to the first victim but did not see them kiss. He also said that the first victim seemed “alert,” also noting that they believed the woman had been drinking alcohol. 

The woman’s friend who intervened in the first incident has previously told reporters that the first victim was noticeably drunk during the incident. 

The second victim alleged through a message via the first victim that she was pulled into a bathroom by Ardila and was forcibly kissed as he exposed himself and began masturbating. She did not speak directly to any reporters until the Daily News story published on Monday.  

Ardila’s recollection of events also differs, saying the interaction was fully consensual, and that the kissing was reciprocated and lasted more than two minutes. He claims she told him she could not continue because she still liked someone else, and was cheating on her boyfriend with one of Ardila’s friends. 

Both the two women and the lawmaker say that Ardila left the party shortly after the second incident. 

A roommate of the second victim recalls being told that Ardila exposed himself to her, but that she was not “traumatized” by the event and thought it was “weird,” according to the report.  

Following the party, Ardila told the lawyers he messaged the first victim on Facebook to ask her out, a message that she did not respond to. The woman says she didn’t see the message until earlier this year, which prompted her to research Ardila, discovering he was an elected official. 

Ardila sent a second message to the woman in 2018, apologizing for the events at the party. The messages were provided to the Eagle in March.  

“Needless to say I was a jerk (to say the least) and I wanted to reach out to apologize for that night,” Ardila said in the message. “Anyways I hope all is well and that you enjoyed the holidays.” 

In speaking to the law firm, Ardila says the 2018 apology, which was sent at the height of the #MeToo movement, was prompted by being in an “emotional state” after being cheated on a few weeks earlier, and thought the first victim had found out he had interactions with two different women the night of 2015 party. 

In an interview with the Daily News, the first woman reiterated her accusations and denied Ardila’s recollection of the events.  

“It did happen,” she said. “It happened to me and it happened to the other woman, and he apologized — not only publicly in March — but he reached out to me in 2018 during the height of the #MeToo movement and also apologized and named that specific night.”

“This is someone who pretends to champion for vulnerable people, but he doesn’t — he takes advantage of them,” she added. 

The two accusers chose not to speak further to press following the Daily News report.

Since the allegations broke in March, a number of Ardila’s government colleagues have called for his resignation, including the governor. Lawmakers have ostracized him from participating in budget committees, attending certain rallies in Albany and managing his own funds. 

The fallout has been felt by Ardila at home, too. Last week, Queens Community Board 2 passed a vote of no confidence in Ardila by a 34 to 1 margin. 

Local City Councilmember Julie Won has also been one of Ardila’s most vocal critics. Her district and Ardila’s overlap. 

Last month, Won, along with State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, confronted Ardila during Community Board 2’s monthly meeting, and has told the Eagle that Ardila’s colleagues “don’t respect him” and that “he’s going to be a one-term member…he’s not going to get anything done.”

Won is named frequently in the report, with Ardila alleging that the Democratic councilmember was encouraging and advancing the allegations as part of a “long-standing political conflict.” 

Ardila pictured with Councilmember Julie Won at an event last November. Ardila is now accusing Won of guiding the accusers as part of a long standing conflict, and Won is calling for his resignation . Photo via Ardila/Instagram 

In response to the accusations in the report, Won shot back at Ardila in a strongly worded statement.  

“As a woman, a councilmember — and worst of all, his constituent — I grow more disgusted by Juan Ardila every single day,” she said. “Juan’s recent comments and his self-funded, ‘independent report’ continue to demonstrate his utter lack of remorse and his pathological hatred toward women. I found out about these disturbing allegations at the same time as the general public; and in my capacity as her councilmember, I connected one of his victims to critical resources that she needed as the survivor of a sexual assault.”

“Now, Juan has retracted his apology, and is desperately trying to push this narrative of a witch hunt against him. Instead of taking responsibility for his actions, Juan casts blame on his victims, a leader in the WFP, myself, and our congressmember — who are all women. That’s not a coincidence,” she added. 

Won further said that she never trusted Ardila, and said he had a “delusional need for power.”

“I was right to never trust Juan, and never endorse him. Juan Ardila must stop blaming his victims and other women for his predatory behavior,” she said. “Juan Ardila must stop holding our community’s Assembly seat hostage in his delusional need for power. Juan Ardila must resign, face justice, and live out his remaining days as a known sex offender.”

Queens CB2 Chair Danielle Brecker, who was one of the first to call for Ardila’s resignation, says that the report is a matter of too little, too late. 

“That train has left the station,” she said.

Though Ardila told the community board last month that the report would answer their pressing questions about the allegations, Brecker said that she believes the report will do little to win back those who have called on him to resign and who have vowed to no longer work with him. If anything, she said, the report may only make Ardila look worse.  

“He paid for a report himself that didn't really make him look very good, which I think kind of goes to an overall questioning of how he handles any situation because this doesn't seem the right way,” she said. “The report to me seemed like the blame game, it seemed like ‘I did nothing wrong, everyone's out to get me, everyone is doing this to me’.” 

“I just know my feeling now is there's really no path for him but to resign or lose horribly in a primary next year,” she added.