Senate Candidate Indicted for Sex With Minor

Eric Deaton claims to have Tea Party backing
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 2, 2010 2:17 PM CDT
Senate Candidate Indicted for Sex With Minor
Eric Deaton is shown in a YouTube thumbnail.   (youtube.com)

Another day, another political sex scandal—but this one involves a minor. Ohio's Eric W. Deaton, Senate candidate for the conservative Constitution Party, was indicted Tuesday for having alleged sexual contact with a young girl, the Dayton Daily News reports. Deaton, 42, is accused of having unlawful sexual conduct with the girl, who he reportedly met at his church, while she was between the ages of 13 and 15 ... and he's calling the whole mess "politically motivated."

He adds that “the powers that be don’t like” his decision to run for office, and says he'll stay in the race despite his Sept. 14 arraignment and the fact that he faces the possibility of five years in prison. According to WDTN Dayton, police say they have hotel surveillance video and receipts that prove their case ... and Deaton's lawyer says those very items (somehow) help prove that his client is innocent. Deaton, a married Cub Scout leader with three kids, says he has Tea Party endorsements.
(More Eric W. Deaton stories.)

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