House investigators determined that state Rep. Nick Miccarelli, accused of domestic violence by two women, violated House policies on sexual harassment and workplace violence.
So why has the Delaware County Republican not been sanctioned?
No funding stripped. No staff removed. No committee assignments changed or eliminated. No resolution introduced to call for his expulsion.
House GOP leaders say they did take a significant -- and unprecedented -- step of calling on Miccarelli, a Republican, to resign. To the outside world, said House Republican spokesman Steve Miskin, it may sound hollow but for legislative leaders to call for a member's resignation is "an extraordinary step."
It's not sufficient, says the Harrisburg political consultant who, along with state Rep. Tarah Toohil, R-Luzerne County, filed a complaint with the House accusing Miccarelli of sexual assault and domestic violence when each was dating him.
"How they are choosing to handle this is an affront to victims everywhere and Exhibit A in why women do not come forward for help. Or when they do, why it takes years to build the courage to," the consultant said.
PennLive is withholding the name of the woman in keeping with a policy not to identify victims of sexual abuse without their consent.
Miccarelli has ignored the leaders' call for him to step down from the House seat he was first elected to in 2008. He has vehemently denied the women's accusations. The Dauphin County district attorney's office is investigating the allegations, but no charges have been filed.
House Republican leaders have said they are limited in what they can do because Miccarelli is an elected official. Miskin indicated the situation would be more clear cut if Miccarelli had been an employees, rather than a lawmaker.
A spokesman for House Speaker Mike Turzai emphasized his boss was one of the voices to call for Miccarelli to resign. Spokesman Neal Lesher said the speaker "still believes that is the best recourse. Absent that, we don't have the authority to single-handedly remove him from office."
While House GOP lawyers found that Miccarelli had violated caucus policies, Lesher said, "Breaking a House policy and being charged or found guilty of a crime are different thresholds. In no way am I making light of the allegations here, we did find them credible so we're not making light of the allegations but there are still due process rights that are afforded individuals."
Lesher repeated, "We still stand by our position that we believe the best course of action would have been for Nick to resign."
Frank Keel, a spokesman for Miccarelli, said the reason the House hasn't acted is because "it's become increasingly obvious to the vast majority of the members that the two accusers' allegations lack credibility. Neither woman has yet to produce any evidence whatsoever to support their stories. Why? Because none exists, that's why."
House Republican lawyers who investigated the complaint, in their report described the women's allegations as "extremely serious" and "credible" and referred them to law enforcement for further review.
It's not clear if the matter also was turned over to the House Ethics Committee.
Per House rules, Lesher said ethics committee investigations are confidential, including whether a matter was even referred to that committee.
"I would not be able to comment on any current or potential investigations," he said.
Lesher didn't directly answer whether Turzai sees a need for caucus policies to be strengthened with regard to sanctions for caucus policy violations
"We are continuously reviewing our policies to ensure a safe working environment for employees of the House,'' he said.
The women, through their lawyers Terry Mutchler and Charlie Lyons, argue that the call for a resignation is insufficient.
"Our clients went through this grueling process," Mutchler said. "While we very much appreciate that the House took initial quick action [in responding to the women's complaint] and called on him to step down. It does beg the question: Now what? ... I think that this moment in Pennsylvania history demands more than a call for a resignation."
Kristen Houser, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, said she finds the House's handling of this situation perplexing.
"Every arm of that body is putting forth legislation to make the situation better and easier to report but if you don't see action or follow through [when a credible sexual or workplace harassment case arises], that's one of the big discouragements why victims don't report," she said. "They don't believe anything will come of it."
In response to the handful of #MeToo cases that have come to light over the past six months, Gov. Tom Wolf has called for better laws as have members of all four caucuses when it comes to workplace and sexual harassment rules.
Miccarelli, while not agreeing to step down, has chosen to drop his bid for re-election. By completing his current term, he will have met the necessary threshold to ensure himself and his wife to become entitled to a lifetime health, dental, vision, prescription, and long-term care insurance package.
Houser said there would be "real outrage" had any other public employer been presented with credible allegations against an employee and then allowed the employee to stick around until they were eligible for such benefits.