SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Five women claimed in a lawsuit Tuesday that the city of Provo and former Mayor John Curtis failed to take action to protect them from alleged sexual harassment and assault by the city’s former police chief.

The city and mayor failed to prevent misconduct or discipline former Chief John King after allegations of harassment emerged in 2015 and 2016, the lawsuit alleges.

Curtis, who stepped down as mayor in November when he was elected to Congress, said in a statement Tuesday that he never protected a predator or abuser and acted responsibly with the information he had at the time. Curtis, a Republican, asked King to resign in 2017 because of a sexual assault complaint against the chief that prosecutors determined did not warrant charges.

“Like most situations, in hindsight, perhaps there could have been things done better,” Curtis said in a statement. “At the time, with all the facts that I had, I believe I did the best I could and followed the protocols established by the City of Provo acting on the advice of the city attorney and human resources.”

King has not commented on the allegations. A message left at a publicly listed number for King was not returned.

When King resigned in March 2017, he said the move was to to devote more time to his family.

Curtis revealed the sexual assault allegations against the former chief days later, saying at a news conference that a woman told city officials a month earlier about the alleged assault. After Salt Lake County prosecutors deemed the information was “insufficient” to bring charges, Curtis said he had asked King to resign.

In a statement issued by his congressional office Tuesday, Curtis called the allegations against King “appalling.”