(Harry How / Getty Images)
Bauer has not been charged with a crime, or even arrested on suspicion of one, despite four women making similar allegations against him. Esemonu was charged with fraud, and Hill was denied a permanent restraining order.
However, when Hill subsequently filed a civil suit against Bauer for battery and sexual assault, Bauer’s attorneys asked that the suit be thrown out, arguing Bauer necessarily had been cleared on that score because the restraining order had been denied.
U.S. District Court Judge James Selna disagreed. He said the judge considering the restraining order made no ruling as to whether battery or sexual assault had occurred, and he further said neither Bauer nor Hill had asked the judge to make such a ruling. The restraining order proceedings, Selna ruled, “did not necessarily decide that Bauer did not batter or sexually assault Hill.”
Bauer and Hill eventually settled, so the case did not go to trial.
(Bauer and his attorneys were aghast at Selna’s decision, in part because the judge considering the restraining order said, “She [Hill] set limits without fully considering all the consequences and [Bauer] did not exceed the limits.”)