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Intern must publicly testify on rape claim against lawmaker

Idaho Statehouse
Posted at 4:52 PM, Apr 27, 2021
and last updated 2021-04-27 18:52:03-04

BOISE, Idaho — An Idaho legislative ethics committee will force a 19-year-old intern who says she was raped by a lawmaker to publicly testify about the encounter Wednesday.

The teen’s attorney, Annie Hightower with the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual & Domestic Violence, decried the move, saying the intern should decide whether to describe traumatic events in a public forum.

The investigation into Lewiston Republican Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger’s conduct began in March when the intern told a supervisor that the 38-year-old lawmaker raped her at his apartment after the two had dinner at a restaurant.

Von Ehlinger has denied the accusations and says the sexual encounter was consensual.