Mayor Arrested After Town Hall Employee Abuse Photos Surface

A mayor accused of sexually assaulting an employee in his town hall office has been arrested after images of him in intimate poses with the woman appeared online and triggered a criminal investigation.

Traian Simionca, 56, mayor of the Livezile commune in Romania, was seized by police on 24th November and is facing charges of sexual assault and rape after the pictures appeared online.

The photographs, which appear to show the mayor kissing and groping the woman, appeared publicly on Simionca’s WhatsApp “status”, where they remained visible for 24 hours.

Police said the investigation began at the start of November after the images showing the mayor and a female employee in intimate poses inside his office began to circulate online.

Officers confirmed that mobile phones and digital storage devices were seized during the searches and are being analysed under the supervision of the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Bistrita Court.

Judges ordered him into house arrest from 25th November to 24th December, requiring him to wear an electronic tag as the investigation continues.

The woman has not been publicly identified and has not issued any statement regarding the investigation.

Simionca later disputed the authenticity of the photographs, claiming they are fake.

He claimed: “Most likely it is someone who either wanted to play a prank on me or wanted to defame me.”

The Romanian Social Democratic Party (PSD) announced that the mayor had been suspended from the party under its ethics code, which bars political support for members under criminal investigation or subject to house arrest, custody or judicial control.