Washington - Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain faced possibly damaging new allegations on Monday from the former boyfriend of a woman who had accused Cain of sexually inappropriate behaviour.
The ex-boyfriend of Sharon Bialek was due to hold a press conference in Louisiana to corroborate Bialek's claim that Cain made improper advances to her when she asked for help finding a job, the office of her lawyer Gloria Allred said.
“The witness is a paediatrician. He was the former boyfriend of Bialek. He met Mr Cain with Bialek and she told him that Cain had engaged in inappropriate touching of her shortly after the alleged incident took place,” Allred's office said in a statement.
Four women have made allegations of sexually inappropriate behaviour by Cain in the 1990s when he was head of the National Restaurant Association.
Cain, a former pizza executive who has never held public office, has repeatedly denied the sexual harassment accusations.
Bialek said Cain made an unwanted advance on her in 1997 after dinner in Washington when she asked for help finding a job. Cain has said that he did not even know Bialek.
Cain trailed former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll on who would win the Republican nomination and challenge President Barack Obama in 2012. - Reuters