Apr 16, 2008 11:06 am US/Pacific
Johnson Considers Defamation Suit Against Padilla
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ―
Sex abuse allegations could lead to a lawsuit in the race for mayor in Sacramento. Candidate Kevin Johnson is considering filing a lawsuit after an opponent brought up past allegations of sexual misconduct with a teenager.
Document:
Full Police Report On Allegations Against Johnson (PDF, 11 MB) (Mature Content)
According to the Sacramento Bee, a copy of a police report from a 1996 investigation in Phoenix was passed around to the media by candidate and local bounty hunter Leonard Padilla.
The reports details allegations that Johnson inappropriately touched a 16-year-old girl. No charges were filed in the case.
Padilla says he requested the report after a Sacramento High School teacher recently brought up a separate investigation into allegations that Johnson inappropriately touched a student.
Sacramento police say those complaints were "unfounded."
On Tuesday evening, Johnson's attorney, Ed Friedberg issued a letter responding to the allegations that were rehashed by Padilla.
The following is the text of the letter:
"The allegations against Kevin Johnson were fully investigated 13 years ago by the appropriate Arizona authorities and, as the records demonstrate, were found to be unjustifiable and therefore, dismissed.
"In recent weeks, the Kevin Johnson for Mayor Campaign has learned that Mayoral candidate Leonard Padilla traveled to Phoenix muckraking information in an effort to discredit Kevin Johnson. This is an unfortunate case of inflammatory, ugly politics on the part of Mr.
Padilla. We're disheartened that Mr. Padilla has, instead of focusing on the issues that are most important to voters and this city, resorted to this.
"We are in the midst of evaluating our options for filing a defamation suit against Mr. Padilla as we cannot condone this type of assault on the character of Kevin Johnson. We are confident that the citizens and voters of Sacramento will see these tactics for what they are, a smear campaign designed to distract from the important city issues at hand."
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