INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — “The other thing that bothers me about the city statement is that they say I reported a romantic relationship. I reported that he sexually assaulted me. I reported that he was abusive to me, that he abuses position of power.”

Caroline Ellert is speaking out after reporting abuse to the City of Indianapolis.

Ellert and Lauren Roberts, two women accusing a former aide to Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett of abuse of power and sexual harassment, say they demand changes.

Ellert, a former city staffer, and Roberts, a former campaign staffer, both worked for Thomas Cook, Hogsett’s former chief of staff and a key part of Hogsett’s re-election campaigns.

In an interview with News 8’s Kyla Russell, the women described in detail several instances of Cook abusing his power and sexually harassing them.

The two also describe being “victimized and trapped” by Cook during their employment by the city and with the Hogsett team.

The women also expressed thankfulness for support received during the time their accusations became public.

“I feel very lucky. I had a lot of people reach out to me, former coworkers who were very supportive which I wasn’t expecting that, but I was bracing myself for the worst, so there’s really been mostly support and very few detractors, but it’s definitely very overwhelming,” Ellert said.

Now, both women have written a letter to the city to demand changes in how investigations are handled when an accuser comes forward and that resources be set aside for those who do.

The women sent a letter to Hogsett and City-County Council President Vop Osili in which they described how they felt the city failed them.

“Systems should protect workers when individuals do not or cannot, it is undeniable that the campaign and the city’s current sexual harassment policies and reporting systems failed at multiple levels. This failure, as well as the inaction on the part of the mayor and other powerful people who work for him, allowed Cook’s abuse of power to continue unchecked for years.”

Ellert and Roberts are demanding the City-County Council implement their demands into the City-County budget for 2025. They plan to attend a budget hearing Monday night.

Ellert tells News 8 she doesn’t think Hogsett resigning is up to them.

” I don’t think that’s up to us. What we want to do is tell our story and we want people to be held accountable where that’s appropriate. But this is about more than one person or two people. It’s about the systems upholding powerful men and letting them continue to get away with this. So I think it’s more productive for us to focus on the system as a whole and how we can all be part of changing that.”

When asked what she wanted from Mayor Hogsett, Roberts said:

“What I’d like to see documentation of the 2017 investigation he says he did into my report. I’d like to see documentation of any disciplinary action he’s taken against Thomas both following my report as he says he did as well as following other reports,” Roberts said. “I think I would like him to apologize. I don’t think I’ve heard him apologize for the neglect that was given by him in my case at least and certainly in other cases.”

Cook resigned as Hogsett’s Chief of Staff in December 2020 for violating a prohibition on “romantic relationships with any coworker.”

The city disciplined Cook in October 2017, after an investigation found “inappropriate romantic advances to a co-worker in 2014 when both were employed on the Hogsett for Mayor campaign, which were initially communicated to the administration in May 2017.”

“The City takes any and all allegations of inappropriate workplace conduct extremely seriously,” the City of Indianapolis Office of Corporate Counsel told WISH-TV in a written statement. “We are grateful for the integrity and fortitude of those bringing these matters to our attention. The investigations and resulting sanctions were conducted and recommended by an outside law firm specializing in employment law that was immediately retained by this office for those purposes.”

Cook also advised Hogsett’s reelection bid in 2023 before the campaign cut ties with him in October of that year.

After his time as Hogsett’s aide, Cook worked for Bose McKinney & Evans, a business law firm that deals in government issues where Cook had worked after leaving city government. A spokesperson confirmed to WISH-TV that Cook was no longer employed by the company.

Roberts and Ellert said they are disappointed in the city’s reaction to their complaints, but glad the allegations are now coming to light.

“I Keep saying this is like an alternate universe I’m in right now. This isn’t the first time I’ve spoken out. I started posting publicly on social media in 2017 around the same time. I first reached out to the mayor to report what happened to me but this is the first time I’ve had any kind of platform or that I was ready to talk to press about it and especially not being alone is a really nice change and I’m very grateful for the reaction so far. It’s been strange to watch my story, our stories get used as this political football score points between parties, but I do feel like it’s making a change and that feels good, ” Roberts said.

Resources

• Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network
• National Sexual Assault Hotline: (800) 656-4673.