Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s campaign is raising questions about Georgia Democratic Senate challenger Raphael Warnock’s arrest in 2002 regarding obstructing a police investigation into alleged child abuse in Maryland.
“What exactly was going on there?” asked Loeffler spokesman Stephen Lawson, according to Fox News. “What was the nature of the child abuse? What was his involvement? If he wants Georgia voters to believe anything he says, he needs to come clean and explain what happened.”
Warnock, who served as a minister at Douglas Memorial Community Church in Carroll County, was accused in court documents of trying to prevent a law enforcement official from interviewing counselors at the church’s camp regarding child abuse.
“The ministers interrupted a police interview of a counselor Wednesday in a room at the camp and, after investigators moved the interview to a nearby picnic area, interfered again and subsequently tried to prevent a camper from directing police to another potential witness, according to charging documents,” the Baltimore Sun reported in 2002.
“I’ve never encountered resistance like that at all,” Trooper Diane Barry of the state police Child and Sexual Assault Unit in Westminster told the outlet at the time.
Warnock was not a suspect in the alleged child abuse, according to the trooper, and the charges against him were dropped a few months after his arrest. A prosecutor said after the charges were dropped that the arrest came after “some miscommunication.”
Warnock’s campaign responded to the resurfaced charge, saying it’s not shocking that “false attacks” have started as he and Loeffler head into a runoff election.
“It’s no surprise that as Reverend Warnock’s support grows, the false attacks start,” a Warnock campaign spokesperson told Fox News. “The truth is, he was protecting the rights of young people to make sure they had a lawyer or a parent when being questioned. Law enforcement officials later apologized and praised him for his help in this investigation.”
Warnock is also being criticized for his role as a youth pastor at a church that hosted former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro in 1995.
However, Warnock’s campaign dismissed the criticisms, saying he was not a senior member of the church and wasn’t a part of the decision process.
“Twenty-five years ago, Reverend Warnock was a youth pastor and was not involved in any decisions at that time,” a spokesperson for the Warnock campaign said, but did not confirm whether or not Warnock attended the event.
Warnock and Loeffler’s runoff election will be held on Jan. 5 and it is crucial to deciding which political party will control the Senate.
