Senator at Large Angel Bolques Jr. defended himself against questions about his 2025 legislative ethics case during Thursday night's V.I. Consortium-WTJX debate, insisting that allegations did not amount to guilt and rejecting accusations of sexual harassment, despite the formal reprimand and unpaid suspension imposed by his Senate colleagues.
"Allegations and complaints do not constitute guilt," Bolques said when asked what responsibility he accepted for the conduct that led to the disciplinary action.
The exchange brought renewed attention to an ethics investigation arising from an employee complaint alleging workplace misconduct, harassment and financial mismanagement. Although the most serious allegations were not adjudicated because of the Legislature's filing deadlines, Bolques entered a no-contest plea to a violation of his oath of office, and the full Senate subsequently approved sanctions against him.
During the debate, V.I. Consortium publisher Ernice Gilbert specifically questioned Bolques about the Legislature's finding concerning an unsubstantiated accusation of payroll fraud that the senator made against an employee.
Bolques did not directly explain that conduct or identify responsibility he accepted for it. Instead, he pointed to the investigation and the fact that he had not been removed from the Legislature.
He characterized the process as thorough and said that if the matter had warranted his removal, that would have occurred. He also told viewers that he had moved on and continued working for Virgin Islanders.
When Gilbert reminded him that the investigation had resulted in both a reprimand and a suspension, the senator did not offer a more detailed response about the payroll-fraud accusation.
What the Legislature Actually Found
The Legislature's official Resolution No. 1919, adopted August 14, 2025, provides a more specific account of the misconduct for which Bolques was sanctioned.
The resolution records a no-contest agreement to a charge of violating his oath of office through financial mismanagement and improper treatment of staff. It states that, during an interview with the Committee on Ethical Conduct, Bolques acknowledged deficiencies in internal oversight.
Those deficiencies included making an unsubstantiated payroll-fraud accusation against the complainant without taking corrective action, which the resolution described as causing emotional distress and fear in the workplace.
The ethics committee interviewed Bolques, the complainant and current and former legislative employees before issuing its statement of alleged violations in June 2025. The parties subsequently reached a stipulated settlement agreement, which Bolques accepted on July 14 and the committee ratified on July 24.
Under that agreement, Bolques entered a plea of no contest to the oath-of-office violation. As WTJX reported at the time, committee chairman Senator Kenneth Gittens explained that the plea was not an admission of guilt but meant Bolques would not contest that specific charge in the administrative proceeding.
The committee recommended a reprimand. However, when the matter reached the full Senate on August 14, senators voted to impose a more substantial penalty.
An amendment introduced by Gittens added a 30-working-day suspension without pay, with 15 of those days held in abeyance. The amended measure also required a formal letter of reprimand.
The Legislature approved the disciplinary resolution by a 7–6 vote, with Bolques among those voting against it. The suspension was scheduled to begin August 18, 2025, while the abeyance period ran through December 31 of that year.
Following the vote, Bolques challenged the additional suspension. According to WTJX reporting from August 18, he argued in correspondence to Senate President Milton Potter that the full Legislature had gone beyond the terms of the settlement negotiated with the ethics committee.
Potter maintained that the committee's role was to investigate and make recommendations, while the full body retained authority to amend the proposed sanctions.
Harassment Allegations Were Not Adjudicated
The most serious accusations against Bolques, including allegations of sexual harassment, did not result in findings under the completed ethics proceeding.
WTJX reported in July 2025 that the committee was prevented from pursuing certain allegations because they fell outside the reporting period established by Rule 810 of the Legislature's rules. The rule generally requires complaints within 60 days of an alleged violation, subject to a specified exception for conduct that could not reasonably have been discovered within that period.
The committee's inability to pursue those allegations because of the deadline was not a finding that they were true or false.
During Thursday's debate, challenger Hadiya Sewer raised that distinction and questioned whether legislators should continue to decide disciplinary matters involving fellow senators.
"The legislature was time barred from investigating the more serious sexual harassment allegations against you," she told Bolques.
Sewer also pointed to his participation in the vote concerning his own sanctions and called for more stringent ethics requirements, including investigations conducted independently of the legislators whose colleagues could face disciplinary action.
Bolques rejected the sexual harassment allegations.
"There was no sexual harassment. I dispute any sexual harassment allegations. Thank you," he said.
The moderator pressed the distinction between disputing the allegations and the formal disciplinary outcome before the debate moved to its next subject.
Ethics Case Returns to Campaign
The exchange came as Bolques seeks another term against Sewer in the November 3 general election. The two candidates are competing for the only Senate seat elected territory-wide whose holder must reside on St. John.
Throughout the debate, Bolques repeatedly asked voters to examine his legislative record, including measures he credited with generating additional government revenue and protecting vulnerable children.
Sewer argued that accountability required stronger enforcement mechanisms and greater independence in government oversight.
The August 2025 disciplinary action remains part of Bolques's public legislative record. It established an oath-of-office violation through the ethics process, while leaving the time-barred sexual harassment allegations unresolved by that committee.
