5/5/21 Idaho State Rep Enlists Supporters to Harass Intern Who Accused Him of Rape

Idaho sure knows how to pick 'em. Until last week, Aaron von Ehlinger was a state rep from Lewistown. He resigned from his post on the eve of being suspended by the state's House Ethics and Policy committee for "conduct unbecoming."

Unbecoming, in this case, is shorthand for "criminal." Von Ehlinger, who is 38 and single, has been accused of raping a young intern who is now in her freshman year of college. He took her to a fancy dinner -- she thought they'd be networking -- and then instead of driving her back to her car, he took her to his apartment, where he has a gun collection, and forced her to perform oral sex.

Since she reported the rape, things have gotten worse. While the committee kept her name private, von Ehlinger's lawyers named her. Word is that one legislator tried to investigate whether the intern could be criminally charged for reporting the rape (!). Another used social media to post her name, her photo, and details about her that made it possible for an association of far-right wackos to harass her in person after she testified before the Ethics and Policy committee. Von Ehlinger's testimony to that committee, by the way, was largely a matter of his taking the Fifth.

The intern has shown a lot of backbone in the aftermath of the rape even by reporting it. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that as many as one-fifth of sexual violence survivors who chose not to report their crimes to police cited the fear of retaliation as a primary reason. This victim has stood up throughout this attack on her privacy -- an attack that is ongoing, and deeply personal.

Right-wing detractors continue, for example, to post a photo of her taken when she was 12 years old. Apparently, she was wearing a more provocative outfit than she does as a young adult. For all we know, it was a Halloween photo. But that doesn't matter. Anybody with the temerity to inconvenience a right-wing politician, it seems, is an enemy.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/idaho-lawmaker-rape_n_6091bff9e4b0ccb91c375c8c?fbclid=IwAR3z6qeTfzyUIcfDx9ZQG-IiDApQB7mnhuLyPpJNeEV5L_w9ADkSj0vZK18