A Virginia Democrat in Congress has known about the sexual assault allegation leveled against Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax for more than a year, according to a report.
Vanessa Tyson, a politics professor, alleges Fairfax, a Democrat, forced her to have oral sex with him in a hotel room during the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. Fairfax, who is in line to replace Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam should he step down over a scandal ignited by a racist photo on his 1984 medical school yearbook page, has said his encounter with Tyson was consensual.
But ABC News reported Wednesday that Tyson wrote to Rep. Bobby Scott in October 2017 to tell him via email she was “not a fan” of Fairfax. She then texted him in December 2017 to say Fairfax had a “MeToo allegation,” but it wasn’t until later that month and January 2018 that the lawmaker found out it was Tyson herself who was the accuser.
“Allegations of sexual assault need to be taken seriously. I have known Professor Tyson for approximately a decade and she is a friend. She deserves the opportunity to have her story heard,” Scott told the outlet when asked for comment.
Scott was himself accused of inappropriately touching a former aide who worked in his Washington office in 2013, a claim he denies.
