ONE day after being released on $150,000 bail on two criminal charges of sexual misconduct, attorney Martin George claimed that, as a public figure, he was being "pulled down" with what he claimed to be a false allegation.

"One hundred per cent innocent. That's my declaration to the nation in this matter," George said at a media conference on July 10.

"There is a deep-rooted context to this, I am from a family where both my parents were school principals and icons in the education landscape in Tobago. When my father died at a young age of 44, our family was led by my mother who was a pillar and stalwart of the Catholic and education community in Tobago. And she instilled in us all a set of core values and principles which remain with me up to today."