The Lord Mayor of Melbourne has sensationally quit amid sexual harassment allegations.
Lord Mayor Robert Doyle, 64, has been accused of sexually inappropriate behaviour towards former councillor Tessa Sullivan, who resigned in December last year.
Ms Sullivan claims Mr Doyle sexually harassed her on a number of occasions in 2017 including touching her breast inside a car after a council meeting.
Mr Doyle’s wife Emma Page Campbell (together) said she supported her husband, who she said was on the ‘brink of being broken’
Mr Doyle vehemently denied the claims as he stepped down from the job on Sunday.
Mr Doyle was hospitalised after his resignation, the Herald Sun reported.
His wife Emma Page Campbell said she supported her husband, who she said was on the ‘brink of being broken’.
‘I stand beside him… He is a good and decent man. I love him. And because I love him, to watch and share what he has been through in the last seven weeks has been agony,’ she said.
Ms Sullivan (pictured) claims Mr Doyle sexually harassed her on a number of occasions in 2017 including touching her breast inside a car after a council meeting
Ms Page Campbell said her husband was treated unfairly because he did not get a presumption of innocence.
‘These allegations have been made in an environment in which guilt is presumed over innocence and where there is little regard for the irreversible damage that can cause to reputation, character and legacy,’ she said.
A statement released by Mr Doyle’s lawyer on Sunday claimed a council investigation had been unjust.
‘Following allegations seven weeks ago, he has been through a period which he feels has lacked any semblance of natural justice, where the burden of proof does not rest with proving guilt, but rather with proving innocence,’ Nick Ruskin from K & L Gates said.
Mr Ruskin said the allegations took a huge toll on Mr Doyle, who continued to strenuously deny the allegations.