Al Gore Accused of Sexual Assault

An Oregon masseuse filed a complaint last year accusing Al Gore of sexual abuse following a nearly three-hour massage session at an upscale Portland hotel in 2006, reports the Portland Oregonian.

The alleged incident took place at the Hotel Lucia Oct. 24, after the masseuse, 54, was called by the hotel to administer a late night massage to a "VIP" client, who was later identified as Gore, 62, the former U.S. Vice President, senator from Tennessee and Nobel Prize-winning advocate for the environment.

The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office in Portland confirmed Wednesday that the woman reported unwanted sexual contact by Gore to police in 2006, and the prosecutor’s office was briefed by the Portland Police Bureau in late 2006 and January 2007.

"We were told the woman was not willing to be interviewed by the Portland Police Bureau and did not want a criminal investigation to proceed," Multnomah County D.A. Michael Schrunk said. The woman was reportedly considering suing Gore before last month approaching the National Enquirer, asking for $1 million for her story.

The unidentified woman, who has been a masseuse for 12 years, filed the accusations Jan. 8, 2009, alleging Gore, who checked into the hotel as Mr. Stone and was 30 minutes late for his 10:30 p.m. in-room appointment, sexually assaulted her in his hotel room by forcing repeated, unwanted sexual touches.

"He pleaded, groped me, grabbed me, engulfed me in embrace, tongue kissed me, massaged me, grabbed my breasts," the woman says in her detailed complaint to Portland police officers and posted by the Fox 12 Oregon TV station.

At one point, she says Gore pinned her down, resulting in an injury to her left leg and knee, and which required medical care for several months.

Gore, she says, was so persistent that she called him a "sex-crazed poodle" for being "out of control."

The woman, who says she notified two friends following Gore's alleged groping, also saved the black pants she wore after discovering stains following the session. Since the alleged incident, the masseuse says she has been traumatized, has trouble sleeping at night, and that her work has been "more stressful and frightening since the incident." She is also seeing a specialized counselor.

The woman, who did not respond to several attempted follow-up interviews with police, revealed in the complaint that she grappled with her decision to come forward – even consulting with attorneys – but ultimately decided to do so to protect other women who may have experienced the same trauma.

She told detectives she only wanted "justice" and that her complaint was not an attempt to receive money.

Gore family spokeswoman Kalee Kreider told the Oregonian that the former Vice President has no comment regarding the allegations. After 40 years of marriage, Gore and his wife, Tipper, announced their separation June 1. The Gores also had no comment for PEOPLE.