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Peter Cox

Assault, stalking charges against U law professor dropped

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Prosecutors have dismissed criminal charges against a University of Minnesota Law School professor, after investigators were unable to verify the allegations against him.

Francesco Parisi, 54, was charged with criminal sexual conduct and stalking in late February for alleged attacks against a woman who said she'd dated him for several months in 2014 and early 2015.

"Prosecutors dismissed the charges in the interest of justice," the Hennepin County Attorney's office said in a written statement Thursday.

Neither the county attorney's office nor the Minneapolis Police Department were able to corroborate the woman's claims, the statement said, and "the charges are no longer supported by probable cause and dismissed."

Barry Edwards, one of Parisi's attorneys, said Parisi is considering bringing a civil suit against his accuser. He said prosecutors should have never brought the charges against his client.

"He will never get his full reputation back," Edwards said.

Parisi remains an active employee at the University of Minnesota, according to a spokesperson for the school. He will focus his work on research, and not teaching, for the rest of the semester, the spokesperson said. Parisi's university biography lists him as the author of 10 books on law and economics. He's taught at the law school since 2006. From 1993 to 2006, he taught at George Mason University in Virginia.