CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – Former Attorney General Peter Heed was cleared Monday of any criminal misconduct on the dance floor at a conference on domestic and sexual violence.

In a 20-page report, Sullivan County Attorney Marc Hathaway said the investigation started when a woman whose hips Heed had touched came to the defense of a co-worker who believed she was being targeted because she allegedly took photographs of Heed’s flamboyant dancing.

Heed was accused of inappropriately touching Division of Children, Youth and Families employee Cheryl Reid while she was dancing with her boyfriend after hours at a conference in May at Bretton Woods.

Hathaway concluded Heed’s touching was neither “consented to nor invited,” but was not criminal.

Heed said Monday he was “pleased and gratified” the report cleared him.

When Heed learned of the investigation a month ago, he promptly resigned, even though he was adamant he had done nothing wrong.

He said Monday he resigned because he believed he was being accused of sexual assault. He said he did not want to jeopardize the integrity of his office.

Reid never intended to report Heed for anything, but mentioned his behavior to supervisors in her defense of co-worker Donna Parisi Meuse, who she believed was the subject of a trumped up complaint because she had photographed Heed dancing. In fact, Hathaway concluded, Parisi Meuse had not photographed Heed, and the complaint about her – that she was rude in trying to her get her hotel room changed – did not result from any conspiracy.

“The concerns that are being addressed in this investigation came to light as a result of Ms. Reid coming to the defense of Ms. Parisi Meuse, and in doing so, pointing to the attorney general’s behavior as being arguably more serious than that alleged … against Parisi Meuse,” Hathaway said in an interview.

Reid not only did not consider Heed’s actions worth complaining about, but told state police she was frustrated when higher ups decided to report the episode.

“I feel like my agency just took it upon itself to do this without any permission … and I don’t feel like the man should be in any jeopardy of any kind for his behavior,” she was quoted as saying.

After an outpouring of support from some state officials, and his better understanding of the allegations, Heed asked Gov. Craig Benson and the Executive Council to put his resignation on hold until after the report was released.

But Benson asked the council to accept the resignation, and it did, on a 3-2 vote on June 23.

Alicia Preston, Benson’s spokeswoman, said Monday the report “criminally exonerates Peter Heed. It does, however, lay out a series of events that still appear to be inappropriate actions for a person in that position and at that kind of function that he was hosting.”

In the report, Heed describes his dancing as “enthusiastic,” “energetic” and hopefully not too “silly.” He said he did not specifically remember grabbing Reid, though he said at one point, a woman grabbed him from behind, putting him in the lead of a Conga line, “and my job is to find somebody else.”

Hathaway concluded the contact with Reid did not happen during the Conga line, however.

Hathaway said his job was to determine whether a crime had been committed.

“There are numerous social settings, including on a dance floor, where physical contact does not constitute a crime – even if that contact is not preceded by invitation or legal privilege,” he wrote.

“The law and society must and do have the ability to distinguish between behavior merely uninvited and that which is criminal.”

Hathaway also sought to squelch rumors, including that Heed was dancing without a shirt. He said Heed took off his dress shirt and danced in a dark T-shirt as the the lounge heated up. He said he never danced bare-chested.

He also discounted speculation about misconduct at a party after the dance in Heed’s room. He described that event as “nothing more than a gathering of between 20-50 people who came to his room for good conversation and social drinking.”

AP-ES-07-12-04 1839EDT