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More Sexual Misconduct Allegations Against Former Sherman Aide

Matt Dababneh, who worked for California congressman from 2005 to 2013, has announced he’ll resign from Assembly

Former aide Matt Dababneh, left, then a California state assemblyman, appears with Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., at a town hall meeting last February. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images file photo)
Former aide Matt Dababneh, left, then a California state assemblyman, appears with Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., at a town hall meeting last February. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images file photo)

Three more women have accused Matt Dababneh, the former chief of staff to California Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman, of sexual misconduct.

Dababneh, now a California Assemblyman, announced he would resign from the Assembly on Jan. 1 after being accused of sexual assault while working for Sherman.

Dababneh worked as an aide to Sherman from 2005 to 2013 and was Sherman’s chief of staff in the congressman’s office in Sherman Oaks from 2009 until 2013, when he was elected to the Assembly.

Carrie McFadden said when she worked in Sherman’s campaign office from 2010 until 2012 Dababneh would frequently talk about his sex life during visits and said he would give her a raise if she could convince a student to have sex with him.

McFadden said she didn’t report the incident to her boss at the time, but did tell two friends, who both confirmed to the Times that she talked about the incident to them.

Jenn Kang said when she was 18 years old and working as a volunteer on John Kerry’s presidential campaign, Dababneh, who supervised field operations for the campaign, exposed his penis and told her to either touch it or perform oral sex on him.

Both Kang’s sister and a friend confirmed to the newspaper that she had told them that Dababneh had made unwanted advances toward her.

Neither Kang nor McFadden reported the incidents at the time.

“I did not know who to call. I was only reporting to Matt…. There’s no one else that I would have talked to,” Kang said.

Nancy Miret told the Times that when Dababneh was running for Assembly, she spent time at Dababneh’s apartment when she was 22 and a recent college graduate.

Miret said the two had consensual sex on one occasion but on two occasions, Dababneh and her had nonconsensual encounters.

Miret said on multiple occasions, he would attempt to remove her clothes even after she told him to stop.

“If you’re saying ‘No, no, no, no,’ and you stop and then you’re quiet, you still never gave consent. That’s something that I didn’t understand,” she told the Times.

Dababneh denied the recent allegations to the newspaper. 

“These allegations are false and I’m confident that when all the facts are in, it will clearly show that these claims are not true,” he said.

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