A grand jury in Dauphin County that investigated allegations of sexual assault involving a former Butler County state representative has suggested several changes to the Legislature's handling of misconduct accusations.

The grand jury did not recommend criminal charges against the accused representative, but did recommend 10 substantial changes on how future similar cases ought to be handled.

A report prepared by the grand jury was published Monday morning simultaneous to a Dauphin County District Attorney's Office news conference on the topic.

While the report does not directly identify the accused representative, prior media reports confirmed the official to be former state Rep. Brian Ellis.

Ellis represented Butler County's 11th district before resigning in March. He has said virtually nothing publicly since the accusations, but he previously issued a denial through his attorney.

Ellis similarly “invoked his privilege against self-incrimination and declined to testify before the grand jury,” according to the report.

In December 2018, Ellis' alleged victim submitted a complaint about an incident involving Ellis in 2015.

The grand jury's report states that the victim felt she needed to come forward out of fears that others would be “violated because she did not speak up about the assault.”

The woman alleged to have woken up in bed with Ellis feeling drugged and injured after just two drinks at a Harrisburg bar, according to the report.

Shea Rhodes, director of the Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation at the Villanova University Charles School of Law, provided expert testimony for the jury based on findings from an extensive research project undertaken by the law school.

According to the report, Rhodes testimony “referenced a Joint State Government Commission study finding that in the last five years, there were over 600 claims of sexual harassment within state government with $1.9 million in taxpayer funds paid out in settlements as a result of such complaints.” She also referenced a report that appeared in The Caucus in December 2017 that reported “the culture of the political environment in Harrisburg promotes sexual misconduct.”

Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo said the victim's “courageous actions” will be worth it if the Legislature implements the grand jury's recommendations.

In a phone interview after the news conference, Chardo said the next step in this case is for legislative leaders to consider the report's suggestions.

“I think the grand jury did a good job, and I think their recommendations are very wise ones,” Chardo said.

The 10 recommendations are as follows:

Establish an Office of Legislative Responsibility to investigate claims of misconduct by elected officials or their staff members

Eliminate time limits on sanctions against elected officials or staff members

Empower the new office to confidentially investigate members without legislative interference, detaching such inquiries from politics

Give the office the power of subpoena for its investigations

Make interfering with the office's investigations a criminal offense

Make elected officials and staff members mandated reporters of sexual assault, harassment or misconduct

Establish a means to screen referrals to the new office for any criminal liabilities. If there are any, they would be immediately referred to law enforcement without notifying politicians

Victims of sexual assault or harassment should not be required to come forward, although they are free to do so

If the office sees a need for an investigation, but not a criminal one, it's able to do so itself

The final recommendation opens up the office's oversight to a broad reach, including financial crimes or improper acts on the basis of characteristics such as race, gender or sexual orientation.

Several of the 10 points directly address Rhodes' concerns with the Legislature's work culture and the difficulties involved when reporting any kind of misconduct. The report specifies that Rhodes found the lack of confidentiality surrounding the woman's complaint to be “one of the most egregious failures.”

“Across the board, victims become subjected to the Capitol rumor mill,” the report states. “The resulting whisper-campaign is perhaps just as emotionally damaging to the victim as the original misconduct.”

Rhodes also criticized a five-year time limit on sexual misconduct reporting in the state House, and a lack of a clear time limit rule in the state Senate. She advocated for significantly longer time limits to be formally implemented in both chambers.

Both Rhodes and Jennifer Storm, the state's victim advocate, spoke alongside Chardo.

“While the grand jury is not recommending charges in this case, it is very clear that it is not because she isn't telling the truth,” Storm said.

The report offers a summation of why criminal charges weren't filed: “The passage of time, diminishing memories, the resulting inability to corroborate the victim and all the surrounding circumstances of this case make criminal prosecution of the member impracticable. Improvements in the system can make it more likely to achieve justice for victims and suspects in the future.”