SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ Late one August night in 2010 at a bar, Sylvia Castillo slid into a booth next to Raul Bocanegra, who was then the chief of staff to California Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes. Bocanegra was a familiar face to Castillo, who worked as a coordinator for a student mentorship program in Sacramento.
She asked if he had seen a friend she was looking for and made small talk. Suddenly, "he pounced," she said.
"He grabbed me with one hand, grabbed my head and shoved his tongue into my mouth," Castillo said in an interview this month. "With his other hand, he put it up my dress. I put my hand down to stop him from trying to grab at my crotch."
Just one year earlier, Bocanegra had been disciplined by the Legislature following allegations that he groped a fellow legislative staffer, Elise Flynn Gyore, at the same bar, Mix. When asked about the 2009 incident, which was not public until a Los Angeles Times report last month, Bocanegra said in a statement that the "unfortunate experience ... was something I regret and learned from."
Castillo is one of six women who told the Times they also faced unwanted sexual advances or unwelcome communication from Bocanegra, 46, now a Democratic Assemblyman representing the northeast San Fernando Valley. The women allege the incidents took place after the Assembly Rules Committee disciplined him in 2009. The allegations span the length of Bocanegra's career in state government as a chief of staff, a candidate for office and a legislator, and they range from emails soliciting dates with a subordinate to uninvited physical contact with women he did not know.
Bocanegra issued a statement Monday morning that he will resign his seat at the end of the session in September and that he has suspended his re-election campaign. The Times had presented its findings to Bocanegra's office Friday afternoon. His staff scheduled a Monday interview with the assemblyman and later canceled it.
Bocanegra, who is not married, did not deny any of the new allegations. As for the 2009 incident with Gyore, he said in his statement that he has "accepted responsibility for my actions" as they relate to that "regrettable encounter."
"These news reports have since fueled persistent rumors and speculation, and I do not believe that this is in the best interest of my constituents to continue to serve next term," he said. "This is a very difficult decision. But I know that it is the best decision for the Northeast Valley residents."
In a separate statement to the Times, Bocanegra said he was requesting a legislative investigation rather than "adjudicate" the claims through the media.
The allegations come as women in various industries are coming forward to tell their stories of sexual harassment and abuse, and as Bocanegra's Democratic colleague, state Sen. Tony Mendoza, is under investigation over allegations of improper conduct toward a young female legislative fellow assigned to his office. He also has been subject of additional allegations.
None of the women formally reported their experiences at the time to police or through legislative channels. Former Fuentes staffer Jennifer Borobia recently filed a complaint with the Assembly Rules Committee alleging Bocanegra harassed her starting in 2009 when she worked in Fuentes' district office.
Borobia said reading the Times' story about Gyore's complaint made her feel sick. She said she feels guilty for not coming forward with her story years earlier and believes she has a responsibility now to speak out about harassment in California politics.
"Knowing that culture is learned and handed down, I don't want this type of culture to be continued," she said.
Borobia was in her early 20s when she worked with Bocanegra in Fuentes' Arleta district office. Bocanegra, who was Fuentes' chief of staff from 2007 until 2012 when he was first elected to the Assembly, was a frequent presence in the local office whenever Fuentes was there, she said.
Borobia said that when she was hired in 2008, she was in awe of Fuentes, Bocanegra and their tight-knit political alliance, which included now-Secretary of State Alex Padilla, Rep. Tony Cardenas and L.A. Councilwoman Nury Martinez, all Democrats. They come from the northeast corner of the San Fernando Valley, which includes Sylmar, Sunland, Tujunga and parts of North Hollywood. Latinos made up more than half of the electorate in the Assembly district in the last election.
"I looked up to them. I believed in what they were doing. As Latinos coming from the Valley, they were relatable to me," said Borobia, who had lived in the Valley since she was 9 years old. Being part of their team, she said, felt like being part of a family.
Borobia worked as an office assistant and case manager, helping constituents navigate state government bureaucracy. At first, her interactions with Bocanegra were pleasant and felt almost paternal, she said.
Starting around 2009 and continuing for multiple years, Borobia said Bocanegra began asking her out on dates via email and text. She said he would tell her she was pretty and make other comments about her appearance. She rejected the invitations, but worried rebuffing Fuentes' chief of staff too strongly could threaten her job.
A document provided by the Assembly Rules Committee, which serves as the body's human resources department, lists "pressuring or persistently asking an employee for dates" as workplace conduct that "may be found" to violate the Assembly's sexual harassment policy. Lawmakers in both houses have recently insisted the Legislature has a "zero-tolerance" policy for workplace sexual harassment.
Borobia, now 30 and working as a county planner in Southern California, said the emails were sent from Bocanegra's personal email address to a Yahoo account she no longer has access to. She left the office in August 2011.
Yolanda Anguiano, who worked as a field representative in Fuentes' office from 2007 until 2010, said Borobia told her at the time about Bocanegra's repeated overtures and how they made her uncomfortable.
Eventually Anguiano approached Gerardo Guzman, the district office director, who also is Martinez's husband.
"I went to his office. I sat in front of him and I said, 'This has to stop, Raul is harassing Jennifer and I'm sick and tired of it,'" Anguiano said. She said he seemed to take her concerns seriously and asked her what he could do. Anguiano said Guzman told her she could go to the Assembly Rules Committee and file a report.
Anguiano opted not to, fearing negative consequences for her political career. Now 35 and living in Los Angeles, she said she filed a report with the committee earlier this month outlining the complaints she heard from Borobia during her time in the office.
Guzman denied Anguiano's account. He told the Times in an email that "no staff person came to me with complaints about Mr. Bocanegra's behavior."
In January 2015 Borobia emailed Bocanegra with condolences about his recent re-election defeat and upbeat memories of her time in the office. She said she struck a positive tone because she did not want him to think she was behind rumors of harassment allegations that surfaced in his 2012 Assembly campaign.
