Cleveland, OH — A young woman who went public with a rape allegation in Ohio is now a Republican state senator and the president of the United States, while she faces allegations of sexual assault and harassment by other people in the state.
In Ohio, Rep. Terry Cunniffe has become the youngest Republican to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
The 24-year-old woman, who cannot be identified for her own safety, made the allegations after going to Cunniff’s office in late August and said she was raped.
Cunniffs office did not respond to requests for comment.
Cunniff, a freshman from the rural northwestern Ohio city of Columbus, is the first state lawmaker to be accused of sexual harassment by someone on the state’s political level.
The allegations came to light last month, and Cunniffs office quickly dismissed them.
Cinniff said he did not recall the woman coming to his office, but she was there when he spoke to her.
Cinniff, who was appointed to the state House of Delegates in December, has repeatedly denied the allegations.
He said he met the woman at a party and had dinner at her house, but would not elaborate.
“I don’t recall a date, and I can’t say if we had dinner,” he told reporters Tuesday.
“We did not talk about sex.
I was not there when it occurred.”
Cunniffe was elected in November, and his election was announced at the White House in early December.
He is the youngest member of Congress in the United State.
Cynthia Fink, a senior adviser to the Women’s Leadership Forum, which promotes women in leadership roles in the country, said that Cunniefs sexual misconduct is not unusual in Ohio.
“There are cases in other states where it has been reported and there is no statute of limitations,” Fink told Breitbart News.
“This is a rare and troubling case, and it is being investigated.
This is a person who is elected to represent the people of Ohio and will be held accountable.
We are all appalled by this situation and the seriousness of the allegations.”
Fink said that Fink believes that Cinniffs sexual misconduct was not an isolated incident.
“There are so many people who have been impacted by sexual harassment in our culture, and so many more who have not,” she said.
“If there is any truth to this story, there are so few consequences.
It has nothing to do with how he did or did not do it.
This was all about power.
And he was abusing his power to his benefit.
People who abuse power, they will be punished.
There is no place for that.”
While the alleged incident is under investigation, Fink said, “I think that this is a very clear example of sexual misconduct, which is not something you can forget.
He has made it clear that this will not be tolerated and he is committed to addressing it.”
Cyntha Fink (@CynthAFink) December 6, 2020The women who spoke with Breitbart News said that while they are disappointed with the way that Cuddell has handled this matter, they are hopeful that he will be forced to face accountability for his actions.
“The more we know, the better,” said Cunnifer, the younger woman.
“It is clear that he has been the one to give a platform to people who were in power, and to the people who could be in power.”
“This is not a story about a man, or a woman, or an incident,” Finkle said.
“He has a history of sexual harassments and other forms of misconduct, and he needs to be held to account.”
The allegations were made against Cunnfishes former wife, who he married after a brief marriage in 2011, and also against his wife’s husband, who they divorced in 2016.
The accusations were first reported by Breitbart News in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2016.
They were first published in the Columbus Dispatch on Thursday, Dec 14, 2016, and again on Thursday Dec. 14, with additional reporting from the Plain Dealer.