By Associated Press, 6/15/2002 17:01

SALEM, Mass. (AP) An assistant attorney general from Beverly has been charged with assaulting women cleaning the state attorney general's Boston offices.

Michael Atleson, 34, was charged with two counts of annoying and accosting a person of the opposite sex, two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior, and one count each of assault and battery, open and gross lewdness, and indecent exposure.

Atleson, a lawyer in the consumer protection and antitrust division, resigned on May 17, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office said.

Four employees of the Unicco Corp. have said Atleson accosted them at the McCormack Office Building between the spring of 2001 and spring of 2002, said David Procopio, a spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney's office.

Atleson, whose phone number could not be located, has not been arrested. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court on July 11, Procopio said.

State police filed the criminal complaints after investigating allegations made by the cleaning company employees.