A retired FBI special agent who was in charge of the agency’s field office in Albany, New York, reportedly sexually harassed eight female subordinates, according to a newly released Justice Department internal watchdog report.
Colleagues described their former boss James Hendricks as a “skilled predator” who leered on women in the office, touched them inappropriately, and asked one to have sex in a conference room, according to the Office of Inspector General watchdog report obtained by the Associated Press.
One woman documented in the report said she carried a ruler at the FBI headquarters in Washington, where Hendricks previously worked, so she could smack his hand when he reached for her legs and breasts.
The FBI told the outlet it could not discuss Hendricks’s case but that it “maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward sexual harassment and is committed to fostering a safe work environment where all of our employees are valued, protected and respected.”
Hendricks, 50, now writes for a law enforcement blog. He reportedly told investigators that his accusers either misinterpreted his actions or exaggerated his behavior, adding he was not sexually attracted to them.
Some colleagues described Hendricks’s behavior as being a “southern gentleman,” though others said he routinely crossed the line. Some male colleagues considered him “creepy,” noting an instance where he reportedly simulated masturbation when an attractive woman left the room.
“It’s an ugly, ugly laundry list of things that were said, and that’s really hurtful to me and it really just disappoints me,” Hendricks was quoted as saying, according to the Associated Press.
The watchdog report took interviews with more than a dozen FBI officials and traces Hendricks’s harassment to his time serving at the FBI headquarters as a section chief in the Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate. The now-retired agent was tapped to lead the Albany office in 2018 to supervise over 200 agents and other FBI employees. He quietly retired in 2020.
Hendricks’s bodily movements are noted in the OIG report, which claims that during conversations with women, he would shift his “body posture and head angle to stare at their breasts and bodies in a manner that was calculated to avoid detection.”
One woman reportedly told investigators Hendricks pressured her into having a sexual relationship, saying that he had been known to be vindictive and “push out” those who he felt had wronged him.
“He was in a powerful position,” the report said, “and she worried about what he would do if she did not respond to his advances.”
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The Washington Examiner contacted the Justice Department and could not immediately locate a contact for Hendricks.
