A statehouse sex-attack victim has revealed excruciating details of her assault by a former top aide to then-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver as part of a lawsuit over the Assembly’s handling of her predator.
Rikki Shaw was the legislative director to the Assembly Labor Committee when she accused ex-Silver aide Michael Boxley years ago of sexually assaulting her.
Shaw remained publicly unnamed as Boxley pleaded guilty in December 2003 to one count of sexual misconduct as a misdemeanor in her case. He eventually received a sentence of six years of probation and a $1,000 fine and was required to register as a sex offender.
Shaw, who then identified herself as Boxley’s victim this past October, has now filed an affidavit in a civil lawsuit brought against the state by former Assembly staffer Elizabeth Crothers, who accused Boxley of rape before Shaw.
An internal probe by the Assembly had cleared Boxley in the Crothers case before he assaulted Shaw.
“I was raped by Michael Boxley in my own apartment,” Shaw said in an affidavit filed in the case, which The Post obtained.
She said that night, she went to the hospital and was “terrified” to talk to police after hearing how Crothers was smeared by Assembly officials for accusing Boxley of raping her. The Crothers case was not criminally prosecuted.
“I had seen what happened to Elizabeth Crothers … and I did not want to see the same thing happen to me,” Shaw said in the affidavit.
She said the statehouse promoted a vulture-like culture encouraging powerful men to abuse young women.
Legislative staffers were required to go to bars and restaurants to mingle with politicians and lobbyists to discuss business after hours, she said.
“Attendance at these events was not optional,” Shaw said.
As the powerful speaker’s aide, Boxley required her and Assemblywoman Susan John, her boss, to join him for dinner with lobbyists.
She said Boxley groomed her, calling her a “rising star” and vowing to mentor her career.
“New York State continues to be haunted by these cases because there was—and still is—no meaningful offender accountability when sexual assaults are disclosed,” Shaw, 45, told The Post.
“When Elizabeth reached out a decade ago to ask if I wanted to testify in the Working Group’s sexual harassment hearings, I said no — all I wanted was to rock my babies and tend my garden in anonymity.”
But Shaw changed her mind about going public as a sex-abuse victim after Crothers filed a civil suit in 2023 against the Assembly and the State of New York under the Adult Survivors Act.
Crothers accused the state of promoting a hostile work environment, sexual harassment and negligence.
The Adult Survivors Act provided victims with a one-year lookback window to file lawsuits in cases where the statute of limitations had passed. The case is still being litigated.
State Attorney General Letitia James oversees the law department that defends agencies, and her office is contesting the case.
“More than 20 years after I was raped, Albany is still protecting the politically connected instead of holding predators accountable,” Shaw said.
“If I stayed quiet there would be more forced encounters, that’s about power and control.”
She recalled having dinner with Boxley and John, her direct supervisor who chaired the labor committee at the time.
Shaw said she felt drugged when Boxley abused her on the night of June 10, 2003.
Shaw unmasked herself as a victim last October, in an interview with WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
Boxley gave a sworn deposition in the Crothers case where he took the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination more than 40 times.
“I deny any wrongdoing involving the claimant Ms. Crothers and otherwise, upon the advice of counsel, I respectfully invoke my Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and respectfully decline to answer your question,” Boxley said repeatedly when questioned by Crothers’ lawyer, Aaron Stark.
Crothers’ lawyer asked Boxley at one point, “And did you leave as in response to the allegations of Ricki Shaw that you had raped her at her apartment.”
Boxley said, “For the record, I pled to a misdemeanor. I did not plead to rape.”
Crothers’ lawyer said, “So you said you left the Assembly before you pled guilty to the misdemeanor sexual misconduct. That’s what you pled guilty to, correct?”
Boxley replied, “That’s in the allocution, yes, that’s correct.”
Silver, who would later be convicted of kickback schemes and died in prison in 2022, came under a firestorm of criticism for issuing a statement saying he believed that Boxley would be exonerated, before the Assembly probe got under way. Crothers said Silver all but dismissed her rape claims.
Boxley left the Assembly later in 2003 before his conviction in the Shaw assault case .
He is listed on linkedin as a private lawyer and consultant.
He previously worked for a top Albany lobbying firm.
