INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The plaintiffs in the civil battery case against former Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill issues a statement Monday explaining the decision to dismiss the case.

The trial, which was scheduled to begin Monday in Marion County, was cancelled after four plaintiffs decided to dismiss the charges against Hill.

Hill, the former Attorney General, was accused of battery arising out of allegations that he groped each of the four female plaintiffs at an adjournment party in 2018.

An Indiana lawmaker and three staffers accused Hill of groping them and making lewd comments during a party in 2018, then making multiple defamatory statements after the allegations became public.

A press release from the plaintiff’s attorneys says, “Hill refuses to accept responsibility. It is under these unfortunate circumstances that the plaintiffs have decided to protect themselves from further hardship, disruption to their lives, and trauma that the trial would create. Hill’s ongoing egregious behavior and hostility, coupled with the systemic failures that facilitated and legitimized his initial unlawful battery in 2018, caused the plaintiffs to make the painful choice to dismiss the case in lieu of risking further disappointment in the institutions that should have protected them.”

The press release says that after the 2018 Sine Die party, the plaintiff’s told House and Senate leadership in an attempt to hold Hill accountable. An investigation by Indiana’s Inspector General said to have found “multiple eyewitnesses” and described Hill’s conduct as “inappropriate”, “creepy” and “unwelcome.”

A special prosecutor was appointed to examine the manner and found the claims “credible,” but said there was not enough required evidence to prove battery. Hill was not charged criminally in connection with the incidents, but the Indiana Supreme Cout suspended Hill’s law license for 30 days after concluding he had committed battery against the four plaintiffs, the press release says.

The release goes on to say, “After years of litigation, a jury trial was scheduled to begin on December 9, 2024 in Marion County Superior Court. However, the plaintiffs have reached the frustrating conclusion that proceeding with the trial cannot provide the relief they sought; namely, Mr. Hill accepting responsibility for his actions and admitting his fault in intentionally touching each of them in a sexual manner without consent. Throughout the pendency of this dispute, the plaintiffs were willing to resolve this matter for zero monetary compensation if Hill would provide an apology accepting responsibility, which he has steadfastly refused to do.”

One plaintiff Gabrielle McLemore Brock states, “After so many years of watching numerous state and federal courts, an Inspector General, a Special Prosecutor, and many other government institutions acknowledge that we truthfully reported our experience of Hill’s reprehensible behavior, and yet declined to impose a meaningful sanction, we decided that, even if we won at trial, we would not accomplish our goals of causing meaningful change in the way sexual harassment claims are handled for those working in and around the Statehouse.”

According to the press release, none of the four plaintiffs continued their careers in Indiana politics and each woman left their position at the Indiana Statehouse, “in large part because of the damage to their reputations and relationships that occurred after experiencing and reporting Hill’s actions in March 2018.”

“However, each of the plaintiffs is eager to end this chapter and focus on their future professional and personal endeavors,” the press release concluded.

In a statement Curtis Hill said, “Yesterday, Sunday afternoon, at approximately 3:00 PM, my lawyer was notified by council that they were no longer proceeding to trial and in fact dismissing their civil complaint against me. We agreed that the case had no merit and should be dismissed. There was no financial settlement. There were no conditions for dismissal. The case against me was dismissed with prejudice by each of the plaintiffs, thus ending this odyssey of unfounded allegations that have dogged me for nearly seven years and have served as the fuel for political and personal attacks against me.”