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The husband of murdered British MP Jo Cox has quit two charities he set up in her memory after allegations of sexual assault were made public.
Brendan Cox denied assaulting a woman at Harvard University in 2015 — but admitted to "inappropriate" behaviour while working for charity Save the Children.
Mr Cox apologised for the "hurt and offence" caused by his past behaviour.
"Last week I decided to step down from my public roles to face up to mistakes I made several years ago while at Save the Children," he tweeted.
"I apologise to people I offended or upset at the time. My actions were never malicious but they were at times inappropriate."
In 2016 his Labour MP wife was fatally shot and stabbed outside her constituency office by a far-right extremist during the Brexit referendum campaign.
Mr Cox tweeted a simple tribute at the time, a photo of his wife standing beside the Thames, and released a statement.
"Jo believed in a better world and she fought for it every day of her life with an energy, and a zest for life that would exhaust most people," he said.
"She would have wanted two things above all else to happen now: one, that our precious children are bathed in love; and two, that we all unite to fight against the hatred that killed her.
"Hate doesn't have a creed, race or religion, it is poisonous."
Save the Children, along with the British Red Cross and Christian Aid, have confirmed reports of inappropriate sexual behaviour involving their staff.
Oxfam, an organisation with which Ms Cox was involved, is battling the fallout from revelations some of its staff engaged sex workers while delivering aid after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
BBC/ABC
Topics: sexual-offences, law-crime-and-justice, united-kingdom
First posted