Former Rep. Katie Hill’s father hopes his daughter’s soon-to-be ex-husband will be prosecuted for revenge porn.
The California Democrat resigned from Congress on Sunday after several nude photographs were leaked to Redstate and the Daily Mail, confirming affairs she had with staffers on her campaign.
Hill admitted to having an affair with a female campaign staffer but denied an affair with her legislative director in Washington, D.C., which would have violated House ethics.
In her resignation, Hill explained that she will pursue legal action against those who leaked her nude photographs.
Michael Hill, the former congresswoman’s father, told ABC he believes her estranged husband Kenny Heslep was responsible for leaking the pictures.
[Related: Katie Hill becomes the first female member of Congress to quit over sex scandal]
“I have remained silent and watched as Katie and our entire family has had to endure the spectacle created when her estranged husband, sent ‘revenge porn’ to RedState and/or some other British tabloid,” Hill said.
He added, “The fact that Kenny Heslep would do such a thing is unfathomable and appalling, especially considering that they were together since Katie was in high school and this is a woman that he purportedly loved and cared about.”
The father explained that California law prohibits sharing explicit photographs with the intention of causing distress.
“This action is clearly a violation of 647(j)(4) of the California Penal Code because he had images of the intimate body parts of Katie, that he intentionally distributed to cause serious emotional distress,” he said. “There is no doubt that Katie has suffered serious emotional distress as a result of these images being posted.”
He noted that he hopes Heslep spends time in jail, if not worse.
“For committing this crime, Kenny deserves to be punished to the maximum extent allowable by law,” he stated, adding, “As a father, I wish worse for him.”
Heslep filed to divorce Hill in July. Since the scandal emerged, she has alleged he was abusive during the marriage.
“Let’s not pretend that her resigning is anything other than the direct result of the actions of a wicked man whose sole purpose in life, after he was dumped, was to hurt my little girl,” her father explained. “Evil has many faces and this is one of them.”
