Update: Seven Days has just posted a story with more unsavory details. See below.
Things are not looking bright for Good Ol’ Norm. More details came out Friday on the criminal charges against Sen. Norm McAllister; and if you’re not completely skeeved out by them, well, your Skeeve-O-Meter needs a tuneup.
The case against G.O.N. “suggest[s] that McAllister for years used his power over vulnerable women,” reports Seven Days’ Mark Davis:
In December 2012, a woman moved into a trailer home McAllister owned in Franklin and began working at his farm. From the beginning, he asked her for sexual favors in exchange for allowing her to keep her job and home, affidavits say.
Reminder: McAllister’s late wife was still alive when this got started. Extra bonus skeeve points.
There’s a whole parade of horrors in the police documents, with three women alleging nonconsensual sex with McAllister — oral, vaginal, and anal, on dozens and dozens of occasions, sometimes causing pain. And, according to a Sunday evening report on Seven Days, one of his victims may have been below the age of legal consent when the assaults began.
But the low point, IMO, was this:
McAllister also proposed transporting her to area farms so she could perform sex acts on “Mexican” farmhands. He proposed they split the proceeds. She refused.
Eeeeeeeuuuuuuuucccccch. And this is a guy who was an aggressive moralist in his politics.
McAllister’s lawyer insists his client is blameless and has “a much different version of events.” But the state police have a lot of this stuff on tape, in recorded conversations between McAllister and his accusers.
And this might just be the tip of the iceberg. The whole case is less than one week old. It all began last Monday with a complaint from one of his alleged victims. Police identified two more accusers, and arranged to record phone conversations with McAllister. It’s quite possible — I’d put it as “probable” — that more accusers will be identified.
Yes, McAllister deserves the presumption of innocence. But this looks very bad, and frankly, I will be surprised if it doesn’t get even worse.
Postscript. Fellow lawmakers have reacted with understandable shock and surprise. Many have expressed a bit too much sympathy for Good Ol’ Norm who, if Rachel Weston’s story is true, didn’t confine his alleged predations to his private life. There’s been woefully few expressions of concern for the accusers — with one notable exception, reports VPR’s Peter Hirschfeld:
Senate President John Campbell used a written statement Friday afternoon saying his “concern lies with any victims of the alleged conduct.”
He went on to defer ultimate judgment to “the court system.” But kudos to Mr. Pro Tem for putting the women first. Good move, sir.
And now, if you’ll excuse me, my Purell bath is ready.