Lawsuit filed against Idaho lawmakers for harassing rape victim News
© WikiMedia (Frank Schulenburg)
Lawsuit filed against Idaho lawmakers for harassing rape victim

An unidentified woman Wednesday filed a civil lawsuit against former Idaho Representative Aaron von Ehlinger and state Representative Priscilla Giddings for allegedly harassing her after disclosing that Ehlinger raped her when she was a teenager.

The woman who filed the complaint brings claims that von Ehlinger and Giddings violated and conspired to violate her equal protection and First Amendment rights. It also brings claims of intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress along with others like assault and battery against von Ehlinger. She is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

The filed complaint states that the woman worked as a Legislative Page in 2020 and became an intern in 2021 for the Idaho Legislature. During her time in the office, von Ehlinger raped her in his apartment. After the incident, the woman told Assistant Sergeant at Arms Kim Blackburn about the assault. Blackburn then reported it to Speaker of the House Scott Bedke.

The woman’s report of the rape led to an investigation by the Idaho House Ethics Committee. The Ethics Committee voted to recommend the removal of von Ehlinger from the House, However, before the House could vote, von Ehlinger resigned. Von Ehlinger was arrested on rape charges in October 2021 and was sentenced to 8 to 20 years in prison on August 31, 2022.

During the House of Ethics Committee’s investigation an article titled “Idaho Swamp Trying to Unseat Another Conservative” was published and included an image of the woman when she was a minor. According to the complaint, Giddings sent out an email that included “defamatory and insulting comments about [the young woman]” that labeled her a “honey trap” and called “the Ethics Committee process ‘reminiscent of so many national ‘Me too’ witch hunts.”