State Senator Daylin Leach (D), who represents West Conshohocken, most of Plymouth Township and neighboring communities, has filed a lawsuit against three women, one who has accused him of sexual assault when she was 17 and he was an attorney representing her mother, and two others who helped bring attention to the accusation. He is seeking $50,000 in damages.
From Philly.com:
Pennsylvania Sen. Daylin Leach on Monday sued a woman who has accused him of luring her into performing oral sex when she was a teenager and he was an attorney representing her mother in a criminal case nearly 30 years ago.
Leach, a Democrat from Montgomery County, contends that Cara Taylor, along with two Philadelphia-area women, have defamed him by peddling what he calls a “fictional 1991 encounter” of sexual assault, including in online forums. He is seeking at least $50,000 in damages, according to a copy of the suit filed Monday morning in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia.
On Thursday, January 24th, Leach posted on his social media about his intention to sue. He wrote:
Why I am Suing
Prior to being elected to the legislature, I was a lawyer for 17 years. I learned that litigation is unpleasant for everyone involved. So, except for matters of public policy, I have avoided the courtroom.
In politics, one is often attacked, sometimes in highly personal, dishonest and misleading ways. However, recently I became a target in a way that is beyond what a public official would normally expect, and most human beings could endure. As a result, people I’ve never met feel free to call me names on social media, and spread all kinds of rumors, no matter how bizarre, improbable or impossible they are.
This has been extremely difficult for me, my family my staff, and my friends. Although every instinct drove me to fight back, I chose instead to focus on my work. No due process, no telling my side of the story, trying (with mixed results) to not react when people berated me on social media.
However, a small group of about 6-8 people has now taken to showing up at my events, storming in, screaming obscenities at people, and holding up horrific and defamatory signs. They, led by a convicted perjurer, are also posting provably false stories on social media, circulating them to my colleagues, and demanding that I be uninvited to events.
My family and I are no longer able or willing to endure this. For the sake of the issues I care about, for the sake of my family and friends and staff, for the sake of my reputation, and for the importance of truth itself, I simply cannot continue to silently and passively allow this. I have always said that I wanted due process. Now, I am going to get it.
In the next couple of days, I will file a lawsuit for defamation in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County against some of the leaders of the effort to defame me. Everyone involved, including myself, will testify under oath and the truth will be revealed. Further, I am prepared to take whatever additional legal steps are necessary to clear my name.
This is not the course I want to take, but I have no choice. Think of what you would do under similar circumstances. I have spent my career as a lawyer, an activist and a legislator fighting injustice. This is an injustice. And it’s time that I fight for myself as hard as I’ve fought for others.
Last week, State Senate Democrats announced that they hired a law firm to investigate Taylor’s accusation. From Philly.com:
Senate Democrats said they have hired an outside law firm to investigate a complaint by a woman who alleges that State Sen. Daylin Leach sexually assaulted her nearly three decades ago, when she was a teenager and he was a lawyer defending her mother on an attempted homicide charge.
Senate Democrats said their decision to investigate was triggered when Cara Taylor, an Allentown-area woman, distributed to them this month a private criminal complaint she filled out but has not been formally filed with the Lehigh County district attorney. In the complaint, Taylor alleges that Leach lured her into oral sex in 1991, when she was 17. Taylor said she had spoken with Lehigh County prosecutors about it, but District Attorney Jim Martin said Thursday night that he had not seen a formal complaint.
We contacted Taylor and she provided MoreThanTheCurve.com the documents she shared with the State Senators. You can view the unfiled complaint here (please note this document is graphic).
At the end of December 2018, Leach was accused by several former staff members of inappropriate sex talk and touching. Leach denied the most serious accusations of inappropriate
On Friday, January 25th, fellow Democrat Tom Wolf called for Leach to resign. He previously called for Leach’s resignation after the late 2017 accusations.
Leach has resisted calls to resign.
Thus far elected Democrats in Montgomery County have been silent.
More to come.