Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown filed a civil case on behalf of the state in Wicomico County Circuit Court Friday against the manager of a Lower Eastern Shore rental property company, who, according to the complaint, allegedly sexually harassed five women in recent years, including soliciting sexual acts for reduced rent payments.
The property manager, Eric Sessoms, of Mt. Vernon Group, LLC, a Wicomico County-based organization that owns and operates at least 23 rental properties on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland, is listed as a defendant in the case, as is the Mt. Vernon Group, LLC. Both Sessoms and the LLC are based in Delmar, Maryland, according to the court filing.
The complaint details five instances of sexual harassment in the past few years from Sessoms, who it states sought to use his role with Mt. Vernon Group, LLC renting properties for illegal purposes.
A woman, who was “unhoused,” for example, is referred to in the court document’s complaint, which said: “Sessoms explicitly requested that she engage in sexual acts in exchange for reduced rent payment.”
An attempt to reach Sessoms or a representative of the Mt. Vernon Group, LLC through the email listed with an affiliated property was not returned by the time of this article’s filing. Sessoms, reached by phone on Friday through a number listed online with an affiliated property hung up after being called by a Daily Times reporter.
Maryland Legal Aid, the state’s largest provider of free civil legal services, partnered with the Attorney General’s office to bring the case. The case was brought by the Office of the Attorney General’s Civil Rights Division, which launched earlier this year.
The division is seeking “injunctive relief, restitution for tenants and prospective tenants harmed by Sessoms’ conduct, civil penalties, and the costs of the investigation and litigation against Eric Sessom and Mt. Vernon Group, LLC,” according to a July 19 press release from the Attorney General’s office.
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“It is illegal for landlords to take retaliatory actions against tenants or prospective tenants who refuse a landlord’s sexual advances or who report or object to harassing behavior,” the release said. “If you have any information to share about Eric Sessoms or Mt. Vernon Group LLC., please call 1-833-282-2977 or email MDvSessoms@oag.state.md.us.”
Dwight A. Weingarten is an investigative reporter, covering the Maryland State House and state issues. He can be reached at dweingarten@gannett.com or on Twitter at @DwightWeingart2.