California Mayor Resigns Amid Allegations Of Rape And Misconduct, Including 'Teen Mom' Star

The mayor of a northern California town resigned this week after a total of nine women, including an MTV reality star, accused him of rape or sexual misconduct in alleged incidents that date back to 2002. 

On Friday, 39-year-old Dominic Foppoli announced that he is resigning as mayor of Windsor, an incorporated town in Sonoma County. Foppoli, a Democrat who has been Windsor’s mayor since December 2018, denied the allegations in his resignation letter. 

“I have always and will always maintain that I did not engage in any non-consensual sexual acts with any women,” Foppoli wrote. "I know that I will eventually be cleared of all wrongdoing, but I have come to appreciate that it will take time.”

In the letter, Foppoli also references the accusations of “a woman in Palm Beach, Florida” from when he visited the city in March. In April, Farrah Abraham, the former star on hit reality shows “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom,” filed a report with Palm Beach police, as the San Francisco Chronicle first reported.

Abraham has physical evidence from the incident and gave it to the police, her attorney told People. The incident reportedly listed “sexual battery” on the police report and took place when Abraham was also visiting Florida. 

In his letter of resignation, Foppoli indicated that the “woman in Palm Beach” made her accusations after the Chronicle’s April 8 report, saying that he has “no doubt she is making these allegations in an attempt to leverage the situation to her advantage."

However, Abraham’s police report was filed on April 2, six days prior to the Chronicle breaking the story, People reported. Four women leveled accusations against Foppoli in that article; several other women came forward after the story was published. 

Now, Foppoli is under investigation by the Sonoma County sheriffs' office, who is working with the California attorney general's office, The Press Democrat reported.

A Windsor councilwoman, Esther Lemus, is one of those accusers, according to the Press Democrat. She claims Foppoli drugged her on two occasions in 2020 and raped her. 

In addition to the multiple accusations of rape, Foppoli is also accused of sexual misconduct — in one case, by a woman who also held his previous job. Former Sonoma Mayor Rachel Hundley told the Chronicle that, in 2015, Foppoli climbed on top of her in a hotel room and exposed himself. She called the incident “absolutely nonconsensual and unwanted." 

Following his resignation, Windsor Councilwoman Rosa Reynoza will fill in as mayor. Reynoza won a May 4 special election to fill the position after Foppoli said he would step back as the scandal around the allegations exploded in mid-April