A close friend of a Portland, Or., massage therapist who accused former Vice President Al Gore of groping her says the therapist told her soon after the 2006 encounter that she’d been violated and assaulted by “someone in the higher ups,” the Oregonian reports. Randall Vogt, the woman’s attorney, reported to Portland police in December 2006, two months after the encounter, that Gore made “unwanted sexual advances” during a massage session. The woman didn’t show up for three interviews with police because Vogt said she didn’t want the publicity. Then, on Jan. 8, 2009, the therapist came to Portland police with a lengthy written statement, detailing her allegations of Gore’s sexual advances and answered detectives’ questions
Law enforcement experts said the time delay in reporting the details of the crime poses a “tremendous” challenge for investigators and prosecutors. The veracity of the complaint could be compromised, said Broward County, Fl., Sheriff’s Sgt. Adam Hofstein, supervisor of the sex crimes unit. “Your forensic evidence is waning, the time weighs on people’s recollections and their credibility.” Harry O’Reilly, a retired New York City detective sergeant who teaches sex crime investigative tactics to law enforcement, said police might consider massage therapy somewhat of a “dubious profession,” and may not follow up since the victim didn’t provide details until more than two years later and it does not rise to a rape allegation. Because the case involved such a high-profile person, he said, “one would follow it up — not necessarily because of the gravity of the case, but because of the people who were involved and the potential consequences.”