An Idaho State Representative Was Just Convicted of Rape... He Got a Lot of Help From His GOP Colleagues

     The story of Aaron von Ehlinger, I'm ashamed to say, was one I had not even heard of until the guilty verdict made national headlines. It's not really his story, but that of a teenage female intern who asked to remain anonymous, a Jane Doe who was brave enough to speak up and speak out against one of the most atrocious things that a human being can do in spite of being terrified. Ironically, the scandal coincided with Denim Day, which seeks to support sexual assault survivors, in both 2021 and 2022.

     On March 9th, 2021, von Ehlinger asked Doe to go on a date with him. The young woman, who was living out her ambitions as an intern at the Idaho State Capitol, presumably aspiring to have a political career of her own someday, agreed. von Ehlinger picked her up a block from the Idaho Capitol and took her to dinner, after which they returned to his apartment. He asked her if she wanted to have sex (with a man old enough to be her father) but she said no. That didn't stop von Ehlinger. The survivor repeatedly said that she wasn't on birth control, that she hadn't shaved, and other things to make herself seem less sexually appealing to her rapist. Even that didn't work. She fought back as he stuck his penis in her mouth, sustaining a whiplash injury and an injury to her skull from trying to throw her head back away from his advances. He tried to stick his fingers between her legs, but she closed them to stop him. Instead, he continued to force his penis into her mouth before ejaculating on her stomach. She immediately left and called her mother, who could hear the fear in her hushed voice. She reported the rape to the sergeant at arms in the Idaho State Capitol on March 11th. Forensic testing revealed von Ehlinger's DNA; he never denied the sexual encounter but claimed it was consensual. Forensics also identified the injuries he had inflicted upon her.

     von Ehlinger was cited for ethics violations unanimously by the House Ethics Committee and then resigned from office before he could be expelled in April 2021. After this, he went on the run: he claimed it was a prescheduled trip, but why a state lawmaker from one of the most remote places in one of America's most remote states would need or be able to visit Central America for more than four months is beyond me. He was arrested on a fugitive bond in Atlanta in September 2021 upon his return, booked into the Ada County Jail, and released on a signature bond on charges of rape and forcible penetration. He would be found guilty of the former at trial on April 29th, 2022; he would be acquitted of the latter charge, at least in my view, because she was able to close her legs before he could penetrate her in his groping attempts. 

     Justice served, right? Not even close. Justice would be no woman having to be afraid to report her rape, but not even accountability has been achieved with this verdict. Yes, von Ehlinger is facing life in prison and will also have to register as a sex offender in addition to never holding public office again, but he was not the only Idaho GOP politician at fault for this. Priscilla Giddings, who is running for lieutenant governor in the 2022 elections, was censured and stripped of a committee assignment in August after she shared an article with the victim's name and address on social media, claiming she was lying for political purposes and asking for donations to protect "equality and due process under the law," resulting in the victim being harassed by dozens of the representative's supporters, some of whom tried to show up at the courthouse on the day of the trial. Representative Heather Scott attempted to get access to the police report while Representative Christy Zito asked someone on April 26th, 2021, about which criminal code was activated for filing a false rape report, implying that Jane Doe was lying and should be the one to be prosecuted, not the man who has been ordered to prison for rape. 

     Aside from Representatives von Ehlinger and Giddings, Doe's attorney has filed ethics complaints against Representatives Scott and Zito. This is the clearest case of defamation I have ever seen in my life, committed by three WOMEN eager to defend a male colleague who raped a teenager. I encourage Doe to sue Representative von Ehlinger for emotional damages and Representatives Giddings, Scott, and Zito for defamation. They recklessly and knowingly shared false information about her, resulting in her trauma from rape being compounded by the trauma of stalking, harassment, and death threats. We need to support her by preventing Giddings from securing the nomination for lieutenant governor. I also believe that Giddings, Scott, and Zito should face charges for stalking and accessory to von Ehlinger's crime; that's on top of the droves of Republican voters who sent death threats and showed up to her home: there's an even clearer case for them to go away.

     This isn't the first time von Ehlinger has gotten off. von Ehlinger actually changed his name a number of years prior to hide convictions and/or arrests for underage driving, drugs, and other low-level crimes in the 1990s and early 2000s. Not exactly the crime of the century, but certainly not conduct someone fit for military service and political power to be engaged in. Still, in 2020, just as Governor Brad Little APPOINTED von Ehlinger (he was never elected) to his seat, he was pardoned for these crimes by the GOP-controlled Idaho board responsible for granting them in what was an obvious political gift. Before the accusations came to light, von Ehlinger was warned about his "flirtatious" behavior toward women and, even when the Ethics Committee knew all of the graphic details of the allegations, they still forced a crying and vomiting Jane Doe to testify before their committee in an apparent attempt to get her to give up on her quest for accountability and justice. Now, Aaron will be spending his 40th birthday in an Idaho state penitentiary.

     This was not the actions of one lone politician: an entire state-level party tried to cover it up, tried to intimidate a young woman into silence. For justice to be served, the Idaho Republican Party needs to pay a steep political price for what they did to this brave survivor of sexual assault.