Rep. Keable out as House Judiciary chair in light of sexual harassment allegations

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — State Representative Cale Keable has been thrown overboard as chair of the House Judiciary Committee after being accused of sexual harassment by another state rep. The timing of all of this, 1 week from the election, has Keable saying it’s all politics.

It’s not clear what type of sexual harassment allegations these are or why it’s just coming to light now ahead of Election Day when it allegedly happened 4 years ago.

Representative Cale Keable is being accused of sexual harassment by fellow Rep. Katherine Kazarian.

“This is the kind of stuff that erodes the public’s trust in government,” says Governor Gina Raimondo.

It’s not clear what happened or when. ABC 6 News went to Keable’s house in Pascoag this afternoon for answers but no one answered the door.

His attorney Kathleen Hagerty tells ABC 6 the 2 have not communicated in any substantial way since early 2015 and her attempts to get specific details on the claims have not been successful.

Speaker Mattiello admits he knew there was an issue 4 years ago and at that time asked Keable and Kazarian not to interact with each other.

Kazarian wouldn’t comment on the allegations but in an email to Mattiello this March, she did voice concern about her bills getting fair hearings.

Mattiello kicked Keable out as chairman Monday night and wouldn’t comment on why it took so long if he already knew about the allegations years ago. Governor Raimondo not saying much to that.

“Let’s wait and see, there’s a lot of questions that I’m asking so lets see,” she said Tuesday.

The Rhode Island GOP chairman quickly encouraging voters to kick Keable and Mattiello out of office in next week’s election.

Meanwhile, Keable is on administrative leave from his job at Partridge Snow and Hahn law firm.

© WLNE/ABC 6 2018