Chris Cuomo sexual harassment accuser says he hasn't changed in the 16 years ...

The woman who accused CNN anchor Chris Cuomo of groping her back in 2005 says he's 'no more enlightened today than he was then' after he denied their 'interaction' was sexual last week.

Shelley Ross, who was the executive producer of Cuomo's Primetime Live show, wrote in an op-ed for the New York Times last week that Cuomo squeezed the cheek of her buttock without her permission 

In response, Cuomo - who has barely been seen since the allegations last week - appeared to dismiss the claim, and noted that he had apologized to her back then.

'As Shelley acknowledges, our interaction was not sexual in nature. It happened 16 years ago in a public setting when she was a top executive at ABC,' he said. 'I apologized to her then, and I meant it.'   

But Ross slammed Cuomo's statement, saying it proves that the CNN anchor has not changed in the 16 years since the incident at a going-away party for an ABC colleague.

'I was hoping that in 15, 16 years that he had changed,' she told Insider, 'but he's no more enlightened today than he was then, as demonstrated by his response.'

'I don't acknowledge that there's anything that was "our interaction,"' she said. 'I was not a participant. I was groped. 'And so to say that I acknowledge the interaction, no. That shows a lack of enlightenment.' 

Ross had previously written that she did not want Cuomo to be fired from CNN, where he has served as an anchor since 2013, but instead urged him to 'journalistically repent' for his behavior.

Cuomo broke cover on Sunday dressed casually in shorts, a t-shirt and a baseball cap with sunglasses to drive his vintage Pontiac Firebird in the Hamptons. The host seems to be holed up in the Hamptons and was last spotted dashing the Hamptons airport headed for New York City to host Cuomo Prime Time on CNN.  He did not address the allegation in his show on Friday night.

He gave photographers a thumbs-up, even as he deals with the allegations. 

At the time of the alleged incident, Ross had recently moved jobs from executive producer at ABC's 'Primetime Live' - where Cuomo was an anchor - to becoming the executive producer of an ABC entertainment special.

Ross said Cuomo explained his actions away on the night as being okay because she was 'no longer my boss.' 

'I was at the party with my husband, who sat behind me on an ottoman sipping his Diet Coke as I spoke with work friends,' she wrote in the op ed. 

'When Mr. Cuomo entered the Upper West Side bar, he walked toward me and greeted me with a strong bear hug while lowering one hand to firmly grab and squeeze the cheek of my buttock.'

Cuomo told her 'I can do this now that you're no longer my boss,' she claimed, adding that it was said 'with a kind of cocky arrogance'. 

Ross said she pushed Cuomo away from her, with her husband witnessing what had happened. 

''No you can't,' I said, pushing him off me at the chest while stepping back, revealing my husband, who had seen the entire episode at close range. We quickly left,' she wrote.   

Ross said she received an email from Cuomo one hour later telling her she was 'ashamed' of his behavior.

The email, dated June 1 2005, first apologized to Ross's 'very good and noble husband' for having to witness his wife 'patted as such' - and apologized to her second.  

'Now that I think of it… I am ashamed,' read the subject line of the email. 

'though my hearty greeting was a function of being glad to see you...,' the email began. 

Cuomo then went on to compare his actions to that of Hollywood actor Christian Slater, who one month earlier had been arrested for allegedly randomly grabbing a woman's buttocks while she was walking through a street in Manhattan, New York City.

Slater was charged with third degree sexual abuse but the charges were later dropped.  

'Christian Slater got arrested for a (kind of) similar act (though borne of an alleged negative intent, unlike my own)...and as a husband i can empathize with not liking to see my wife patted as such...,' the email read. 

'so pass along my apology to your very good and noble husband...and i apologize to you as well, for even putting you in such a position...

He closed out the email with: 'next time, i will remember the lesson, no matter how happy i am to see you...' 

In her op ed, Ross said she questioned whether Cuomo was 'ashamed' of 'what he did, or was he embarrassed because my husband saw it?'

She added: 'Mr. Cuomo may say this is a sincere apology. I've always seen it as an attempt to provide himself with legal and moral coverage to evade accountability.'

She also questioned whether their was a legal motive behind his email, pointing to the comparison Cuomo - a former lawyer - made with Slater, saying she believes he was attempting 'to legally

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