Baltimore Housing Commissioner Silent Amid Growing Outrage

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Prosecutors have now launched a criminal investigation into a sex for maintenance scandal in Baltimore public housing. Still, the man in charge remains silent, as the outrage grows.

WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren with who is being held accountable.

According to new published reports, two people associated with the sex scandal have been fired. Baltimore Housing will not confirm that, saying these are confidential personnel matters.

Meanwhile, the housing commissioner is not talking on the advice of his lawyers.

Baltimore City Housing Commissioner Paul Graziano is staying silent amid growing outrage over conditions in the homes he controls--what some public housing tenants are calling inhumane conditions.

"I've never lived in such deplorable situations before in my life," said Alice Wilkerson, tenant.

And a sex scandal. Tenants are suing, claiming maintenance workers demanded sex for repairs.

"Women were vulnerable because of their living conditions," said Perry Hopkins, Maryland Communities United.

Leading to calls for the mayor to fire Graziano, including protests that have shut down City Council proceedings twice.

Despite that, the mayor praises Graziano's leadership and says she has no plans to force him to leave.

"Absolutely not. He hasn't been accused of anything. I await the results of the investigation, just like everyone else does," Mayor Rawlings-Blake said.

The mayor refers to housing's internal investigation--but that's not the only one.

State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby's office tells WJZ they're also investigating "...to determine whether criminal charges should be brought."

"All of those people are criminals. They need to be arrested," one woman said.

WJZ has repeatedly asked for an interview with Graziano, and we've been turned down every time.

Graziano claims he can't talk because "this is a confidential personnel matter" and "there is a pending lawsuit."

But WJZ wants to know: what has changed in terms of how maintenance complaints are handled and monitored? And what's being done to ensure this never happens again?

"It makes you scared to live where you are. You don't feel safe in your own home because of situations like this," one woman said.

Baltimore has the fifth highest number of public housing units in the nation, and has been pushing to privatize more of them.