A second woman has accused the deputy governor of Virginia of sexual assault, claiming the Democrat raped her 19 years ago while they were both students at university.
By Michael Biesecker, Michael Kunzelman and Alan Suderman, Associated Press
February 9 2019 7:10 AM
A second woman has accused the deputy governor of Virginia of sexual assault, claiming the Democrat raped her 19 years ago while they were both students at university.
A lawyer for Meredith Watson, 39, alleged in a statement that Justin Fairfax had attacked her in 2000, and it described the assault as “premeditated and aggressive”.
The statement noted that while Ms Watson and Mr Fairfax had been social friends, they were never involved romantically.
The lawyer, Nancy E Smith, said her team has statements from former classmates who said Ms Watson had “immediately” told friends that Mr Fairfax had raped her.
I deny this latest unsubstantiated allegation. It is demonstrably false.
Justin Fairfax
A New Jersey public relations firm representing Ms Watson provided a 2016 email exchange with a female friend and 2017 text exchanges in which Ms Watson said Mr Fairfax had raped her. She also expressed dismay about his run for political office.
Mr Fairfax shot back at his accusers quickly, saying in a statement that he would not resign from office and vowing to clear his name against what he described as a “vicious and co-ordinated smear campaign”.
He added: “I deny this latest unsubstantiated allegation. It is demonstrably false.
