Brooklyn Senator Kevin Parker Faces Rape Allegations in Lawsuit

State Sen. Kevin Parker is accused in a lawsuit of raping a Brooklyn woman two decades ago, an allegation described by Gov. Hochul as “deeply disturbing.” The lawsuit, filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court, alleges that Parker assaulted Olga Jean-Baptiste at her home after she helped coordinate aid to flood victims in Haiti in 2004. Parker, a 56-year-old Democrat representing neighborhoods including Flatbush, East Midwood, and Flatlands, did not reply to requests for comment on Monday. The complaint was brought under the state’s Adult Survivors Act, which opened a year-long window in which the statute of limitations has been lifted for civil lawsuits concerning sexual abuse allegations. Hochul, a Buffalo Democrat, called the allegations against Parker “shocking — absolutely shocking.” Jean-Baptiste, 49, resides in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn. Her lawyer, Bob Hilliard, said, “A jury will hear firsthand the full details and horribleness of what happened.” Governor Hochul said she believed the Senate’s Democratic majority leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins of Westchester, would launch an investigation. A spokesman for Stewart-Cousins said she would “take appropriate action as more information is learned.”