California college professor Vanessa Tyson will meet with Boston prosecutors and police to outline her sexual assault allegation against Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, after previously indicating she would not seek criminal charges.
Attorney Debra Katz, who is representing Tyson, said in a Wednesday evening statement that Tyson would sit down with prosecutors, days after a source close to Tyson told the Washington Examiner she did not intend to seek charges against the Virginia Democrat.
Massachusetts has a 15-year statute of limitations for sexual assault, meaning that Tyson has just months left to seek criminal charges against Fairfax, who she alleges forced her to perform oral sex on him during the July 2004 Democratic convention in Boston.
“I spoke with Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins this afternoon,” Katz said in a statement. “Dr. Tyson will meet with members of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s staff and law enforcement to detail her allegations of sexual assault. We are working to schedule a meeting.”
Fairfax had appeared poised to become his state’s governor after a racist photo was found in the medical school yearbook of Gov. Ralph Northam, also a Democrat. Since Tyson came forward last week, a second woman has accused Fairfax of sexual assault.
Katz said that Tyson will sit down after threats from Fairfax, who had denied the allegation, saying he and Tyson had a “100 percent consensual” experience.
“Earlier today, Lt. Governor Fairfax’s spokeswoman issued a shocking threat, as reported by the Boston Globe, that Lt. Governor Fairfax would initiate criminal charges against Dr. Tyson if she pressed charges against him for sexually assaulting her in 2004,” Katz said. “This is a clear effort to obstruct justice. Dr. Tyson will not be bullied and she will not be deterred by such threats. As Dr. Tyson stated earlier, she will cooperate with all appropriate investigations and awaits further word from leadership in the Virginia legislature about how it will proceed.”
Earlier Wednesday, Rollins expressed interest in investigating Tyson’s assault claim. “We have prosecuted many sexual assault cases dating back decades,” said Jake Wark, spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in Boston.
Tyson, who teaches politics at Scripps College, spoke for the first time publicly Tuesday since coming forward, warning at a Stanford University symposium of an “epidemic” of sexual assault.
