Utah Politician Admits Nude Hot Tub Romp With Minor

Utah's House GOP majority leader said late yesterday that he paid a woman $150,000 to keep silent about going nude "hot-tubbing" with her when she was a minor a quarter-century ago. In a shocking statement on the House floor, Kevin Garn, 55, said he paid her to keep quiet about the incident during his unsuccessful US congressional bid in 2002, but did not have sexual contact with her. Garn said he wanted to get on top of the story, because the woman has been calling news outlets.

A woman identifying herself as Cheryl Maher told the Salt Lake Tribune that she and Garn, then 28, spent time in a hot tub nude when she was 15 years old. "This has just been a nightmare for me," Maher said. "I just want to tell the truth because it's part of the healing process for me." Garn confirmed that Maher, who worked for him in a warehouse, was the woman. He says the skinny dipping was a "spur of the moment" thing. "We sat there and that was it," Garn said. (More Kevin Garn stories.)