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Republican "Young Gun" (how is he a young gun at age 68?) Thomas Ganley is running against Rep. Betty Sutton in Ohio Congressional District 13. But no matter what one's political outlook is, he should not be allowed anywhere near Washington, DC.

Last week a lawsuit was filed against Thomas Ganley, not by a Democrat, but by a Tea Party supporter who wanted to volunteer for his campaign. His conduct as described in her complaint was so reprehensible and entitled that it smacked of a man who watches too much online adult fare, and a man who really, really despises women. This is a man who should be in jail, not running for the United States Congress.

The incident happened about a year ago. It came to light after settlement negotiations between his lawyer and hers failed. It isn't some election-year invention. It's attempted rape. From her complaint (PDF):

Ganley brought up the topic of "Fun" again and told Mrs. Saccany that she needed to start having some "Fun" in her life. He then told Mrs. Saccany that he and his wife lead separate lives and that his wife "lives on the other side of the house".

Here, he's laying the foundation. Poor Tom Ganley, living with his wife in name only, but he doesn't have much "fun" and wants to convince this ardent supporter that she's not having much "fun" either. But wait, it gets worse. Ganley pursues her by phone on the pretense of being concerned about her van's power steering and other "favors" he's promised her. She finally brings the van into the dealership for servicing.

Mrs. Saccany first took her car to the service department at Ganley Chevrolet. When Mrs. Saccany went upstairs into Ganley's office, the smell of cologn was overpowering, and as Mrs. Saccany walked into his office Ganley sprayed breathe [sic] freshener into his mouth.

Ganley asked Mrs. Saccany if the van was in the service department and she said yes.

Note: She has no means of escape at this point.

Then Ganley started the "Fun" talk abain. Ganley tolder that he had a condo in Strongsville where he would like to take Mrs. Saccany to have some "Fun". Ganley then told Mrs. Saccany that he has a group of people that he "plays" with. At this point Mrs. Saccany was in shock.

Plaintiffs' counsel verified the fact that Ganley in fact did own a condominium in STrongsville at 11427 Blodgett Creek Trail.

Ganley then pushed a $100 bill across his desk toward Mrs. Saccany and told her that she should purchase some high heels, a thong and some lingerie, so she could play along with him and his friends. Mrs. Saccany was speechless and shocked beyond words.

Ganley told Mrs. Saccany that he wanted her to be "submissive" to him, and that he wanted to "dominate" Mrs. Saccany and parade her around on a leash while his other "play" friends watched.

It gets worse from there. I'm not going to quote it all, but she tried to hold him at bay until her van was out of the service department. At some point, she got up to walk around, and he came up behind her and, well...take a guess.

Did I mention that Ganley is the President and CEO of CrimeStoppers of Northern Ohio? Or that he has a deep foothold in the law enforcement community there? He does. Imagine that you're this woman -- someone who endured sexual assault as a child, by the way -- and this man who you want desperately to support for public office is now trapping you and telling you he wants to lead you around on a leash and forcing himself on you. Imagine it, and all you have to do is read the documents and supporting material to know this woman is telling the truth.

It's not a partisan thing. This is a predator. He set his sights on this woman and went after her, even setting the scene in a way that left her no escape. This is how predators work. They convince their targets they're helpless, without any way out, that they control everything, even law enforcement. They prey on distrust of authority (which is endemic in the tea party set), and they pounce. He pounced. She was nearly raped. She got away just in time, and sent him a note after the fact letting him know exactly what she thought of him. (see Exhibits, then Exhibit 3 - PDF)

I came to you as a customer, and you treated me like a hooker. At first, I didn't know what to say, I was shocked at what was happening. When you called me the Saturday morning before I went camping, you told me to bring my car in so the service guys could look at it & find out what was wrong. Paul in service told you what was wrong & you told him to fix it. All I could think of was I had no way to pay for this service & you were hitting on me, telling me what you wanted to do to me, I did not know what to do. On one hand, here's this man I respect, who's helping me and then I felt at the same time that I was being completely taken advantage of. Every single time I see your name plastered all over this city I feel sick * disgusted. I trusted you.

(I didn't quote the more salacious parts of her note...read it at the link if you want the full picture).

None of this particularly surprises me, though it does make me sick. But reading the comments on the Cleveland Plain Dealer site did surprise and shock me, because these commenters are so entrenched in their little conservative teabagger roles that they are deliberately overlooking the craven, ugly acts of this man and denying they happened. They'd just as soon tar and feather someone they probably attended a tea party rally with as actually consider what he has done. And of course, they blame Betty Sutton even though this whole thing started long before Ganley was ever challenging her Congressional seat.

So I say it again. This is NOT PARTISAN. It's attempted rape. It's sexual assault. It's predatory. It's also not uncommon. We have Taliban Dan waving the flag to stone women, and Marco Rubio roommate David M. Rivera beating up his girlfriend. Rivera, by the way, is a Repeat Domestic Violence Offender according to Florida public records.

I don't care if you're anti-abortion or pro-choice. If you're a woman, or a man who respects women, you know none of these men have any business making any laws in Washington DC. They belong in jail and therapy.