(CNN) Celebrity chef Mario Batali is facing a criminal charge in Boston after a woman reported that he groped her in March 2017.

Batali is facing an indecent assault and battery charge in connection with an alleged incident on March 31, 2017 at a restaurant in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office said Wednesday in an email.

The celebrity chef is expected to be arraigned on Friday at Boston Municipal Court, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office said.

Natali Tene's attorneys said in a statement Thursday their client is "grateful that the Suffolk County District Attorney's office... has chosen to go forward in prosecuting" Batali, and noted that the criminal charges against him are independent of Tene's lawsuit against the celebrity chef.

CNN previously reported on the lawsuit, in which Tene claimed that Batali rubbed her breasts, kissed her repeatedly and groped her buttocks and groin area after he spotted her taking photos of him, and offered to take a selfie with her, according to the complaint.

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