DaytonDailyNews.com

COLUMBUS — Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann has put his general services director, Anthony Gutierrez, on paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of an internal investigation into sexual harassment complaints filed by two women on staff.

"We take all allegations of this nature extremely seriously," Dann said in a prepared statement on Monday, April 7. "In order to protect the interests and rights of all the parties involved we believe it is prudent to place Mr. Gutierrez on leave during the course of the investigation."

One of the women brought her complaint to Dann's human resources department as early as March 6. The equal employment officer didn't open an investigation until March 31.

The Columbus Dispatch, which obtained copies of the complaints, wrote Sunday that the two 26-year-old women said Gutierrez, who is married, pressured them frequently to have sex, often saying "you owe me."

Gutierrez, 50, is paid $87,485 a year to run the mail room, purchasing and maintenance operations. He is Dann's close friend and his neighbor at his home near Youngstown.

Dann, Gutierrez, and Communications Director Leo Jennings III also shared an apartment in suburban Columbus, where some of the harassment allegedly occurred.

The Dispatch, quoting from the complaints, said one of the women, Cindy Stankoski, accompanied Gutierrez to the apartment on Sept. 10 after they had been to a couple of bars. She said she woke up after a nap and three buttons on her pants were undone while Gutierrez was beside her wearing only underwear.

The same night, according to the complaint, another staffer — Jessica Utovich, 28 — was at the apartment in her pajamas with Dann. Utovich had been Dann's scheduler until she got a 26 percent pay raise and new duties in September.

Related article: Women describe sexual allegations

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