A grand jury will not recommend charges against former state Rep. Brian Ellis (R-Butler), who resigned from office in March after being accused of sexual assault. The AP reports that Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo said at a press conference Monday morning that he agreed with the conclusion of the grand jury report that charges shouldn’t be pursued against Ellis, although a prosecutor said he believes a crime occurred. 

“The passage of time, diminishing memories, the resulting inability to corroborate the victim, and all the surrounding circumstances of this case make a criminal prosecution of the member impracticable,” the jury wrote, according to the AP. 

The grand jury also suggested that procedural changes are needed, which could include an independent office to investigate misconduct by elected officials, according to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. 

BUT the grand jury did make suggestions for policy changes — including an independent office to investigate misconduct by Senators and Represnetatives.

— Stephen Caruso (@StephenJ_Caruso) August 26, 2019

Ellis’s lawyer called Chardo’s decision “proper and just,” while the woman’s lawyer said her client believed that Chardo’s report showed that the woman was “credible and that a crime occurred,” according to the AP. 

The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Caucus first reported in January about the criminal investigation into the allegations that Ellis had sex with a woman while she was “incapacitated and without her consent.” A few days after the allegation was made public, Gov. Tom Wolf and GOP leadership called on Ellis to resign.

Ellis represented the 11th district from 2005 until March 2019.