MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. – There are new calls for Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido to step down from his position.
The newly-formed group, the Macomb Accountability Project, is pushing for Lucido’s removal.
Emily Mellits, the founder of the project, started a petition pushing for Lucido’s resignation. It has received more than 1,000 signatures.
In a virtual press conference, the group brought up the prosecutor’s past allegations of sexual harassment. Mellits claimed that Lucido surrounds “himself with people that are indifferent to the victims of sexual harassment, but he actually aligns himself with those that commit or defend the shameful acts.”
READ: Complaint calls for ethics investigation into Macomb County prosecutor’s nursing home probe
Last year, Lucido was stripped of a committee chairmanship and ordered to undergo training after Michigan Senate concluded that allegations of sexual harassment lodged by several women, including a legislator, were credible.
The Senate opened an investigation in January after a reporter complained that Lucido made a sexist comment to her before a group of high school boys. A female senator then accused him of sexually harassing her at a Capitol orientation. A woman who works for a trade group made similar allegations.
The group also claimed Lucido has been knowingly working with a convicted pedophile on an investigation. Lucido denies that claim and said that this person only had an inquiry through the prosecutor’s office to find out more about his sister’s death.
“They claimed in the press release that he’s working with the county prosecutor. He’s not working with anyone here,” Lucido said. “I have not been found guilty of anything and they say I’ve been found guilty. If I was guilty of anything, I wouldn’t be able to practice law.”