Former Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli remains in legal quandary amid string of civil suits alleging sexual assault, abuse

Dominic Foppoli, the former Windsor mayor, learned Thursday he faces no criminal charges, for now, stemming from Sonoma County and California investigations into allegations he sexually abused and assaulted multiple women over a period of nearly 20 years.

A spokesperson for state Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office on Thursday said prosecutors did not have “enough evidence to warrant filing charges on the cases not barred by the statute of limitations.”

The spokesperson said the state case would, however, remain open, “and we urge anyone who believes they may be a victim or who has evidence to come forward.”

Thursday’s announcement marked, for now, the conclusion of the last publicly known ongoing criminal investigation into Foppoli, the once-politically ascendant scion of a wealthy local wine family.

The known criminal investigations, eventually, originated in four different states: California, Montana, Florida and Nevada. None of the investigations have resulted in criminal charges.

Still, Foppoli must still contend with three active lawsuits filed in Sonoma County Superior Court:

— Seven anonymous women are accusing Foppoli of sexual assault, claiming he used his “power, connections and alcohol to prey on dozens of women in Sonoma County.”

Also named as defendants are his family-owned Christopher Creek Winery, and the Santa Rosa chapter of Active 20-30, which the lawsuit alleges profited from Foppoli, “luring Plaintiffs to events held at or on behalf of” the two institutions, then failing to investigate reports of sexual assault, according to the complaint.

— Jane Doe 7017, from Gallatin, Montana, accuses Foppoli of raping her multiple times in 2020, when she was 18. Between May and September of that year, according to the complaint, the then-sitting mayor of Windsor sexually assaulted her after several events connected to Christopher Creek Winery.

The winery also is named in the suit, for allegedly ignoring Foppoli’s misconduct and “fostering a pervasive and hostile environment that utterly disregarded the rights and safety of women,” according to the suit.

— The social media influencer and reality TV star Farrah Abraham accused Foppoli of drugging and raping her at his friend’s residence in Palm Beach, Florida, in March 2021. Her lead attorney, Spencer Kuvin, told The Press Democrat that Abraham “blacked out” after a few sips of an Old Fashioned that Foppoli gave her. In the morning, according to the complaint, she woke up in a bed next to Foppoli cut, bruised and with no memory of the night before.