Several journalists who worked with former Fox News chief Washington correspondent James Rosen told NPR he left the network late last month after higher-ups took a closer look at his behavior toward women.

Fox News confirmed Rosen's departure in December, but did not say why he left after 18 years with the network or announce his exit on air. NPR spoke with eight of his former colleagues at the Fox News Washington, D.C., bureau, who said Rosen had a long history of making sexual advances and aggressive flirting toward co-workers.

Four people told NPR that in 2001, after Rosen was rebuffed by a reporter he groped, he attempted to take away her sources and stories. Several others told NPR that Rosen sexually harassed a foreign national producer covering the State Department, who accepted a deal from Fox News not to say anything in exchange for being allowed to work longer in the United States, and that he tried to forcibly kiss a young reporter twice last year.

In recent years, Fox News has fired several men after they were publicly accused of sexual harassment or misconduct, including late former chairman and CEO Roger Ailes and former hosts Bill O'Reilly and Eric Bolling, who have both denied any wrongdoing. Fox News and Rosen, who is married, declined to comment to NPR. Catherine Garcia