Staffers for Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax are stepping down from their posts after a second woman accused Fairfax of sexual assault, according to a new report.
Fairfax’s policy director Adele McClure and his scheduling director Julia Billingsly stepped down from their posts in the wake of a new allegation, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. Dave Mills, the executive director of Fairfax’s political action committee, and Courtney McCargo, a fundraiser for the committee, also have stepped down.
On Friday, attorney Nancy Erika Smith released a statement asserting that Fairfax raped her client Meredith Watson in 2000 when the two were students at Duke University. The allegation came after Vanessa Tyson, a political science professor at Scripps College and visiting fellow at Stanford University, alleged Fairfax sexually assaulted her in 2004 at a Democratic convention in Boston. Tyson said the encounter was initially consensual, but claimed Fairfax forced her to perform oral sex on him against her will.
Fairfax has refused to resign, and has denied the allegations leveled against him. He is urging for an investigation into Watson’s accusations, which he called “demonstrably false” on Friday.
“Such an investigation will confirm my account because I am telling the truth,” Fairfax said in a statement Friday. “I will clear my good name and I have nothing to hide.”
