FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CR

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 1998                                                                                                                           (202) 616-2765

                                                                                                                                                                                TDD (202) 514-1888




JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SUES OHIO LANDLORD FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT





	WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Justice Department today charged an
Akron landlord with violating the Fair Housing Act by engaging in
a pervasive pattern of sexual harassment, including sexual assault,
against several female tenants at apartment buildings he owns in
the area.

	The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Cleveland,
alleges that Paul Crawford, 76, harassed women in several of the
more than 35 rental properties he owns in Akron.  The alleged
victims are mostly lower-income, single women who had limited
opportunities to seek other housing, making them particularly
vulnerable to harassment by a landlord.

	"We will not tolerate landlords who prey on vulnerable female
tenants," said Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General for
Civil Rights.  

	The Justice Department alleged that Crawford engaged in the
unlawful activity from at least 1995, to the present.  Alleged
actions by Crawford include unwanted verbal sexual advances,
unwanted sexual touching, asking for sexual favors in exchange for
tenancy, and threatening to evict women who refused his sexual
advances.

	The Fair Housing Act of 1968 makes it illegal to discriminate
against any individuals seeking housing based on their race,
national origin, ethnicity, gender, or familial status.

	The Justice Department is asking the court to order Crawford
to pay damages to identified victims, as well as civil penalties to
the U.S. treasury.

	The Justice Department will seek to consolidate its lawsuit
with a related civil suit brought by Housing Advocates, Inc. in
April of last year.

	Any individual who has information relating to the allegations
in this case should call the Justice Department at (800) 896-7743.

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