Patrick Liebrecht, a Republican running to represent Colchester in the Vermont House of Representatives, is facing charges for allegedly posting “revenge porn” of his ex-girlfriend. Liebrecht says he will not drop out of the race. He plead not guilty to the charges and says the accusations are “absolutely” politically motivated.
The Vermont Republican Party condemned Liebrecht’s alleged actions and is no longer supporting his candidacy, Executive Director Jeff Bartley said Wednesday.
The charges, first reported by WCAX Wednesday, are related to Liebrecht allegedly posting nude photos of his ex-girlfriend on Facebook without her permission earlier this year.
Court documents say that in mid-July, his ex-girlfriend posted a photo of herself with family and Liebrecht “in turn posted a nude picture of [his ex-girlfriend] in the comments thread of that picture.”
The court records also say that the woman “expressed concerns for pursuing this matter advising Patrick has threatened that he could ruin her and [she] also informed [police] that he is backed by the Republican Party as he is running for Political Office and he has his methods.”
Liebrecht says the timing of the case shows that the accusations are politically motivated.
“The charges were originally filed July 20. I didn’t receive a citation until Sept. 9,” Liebrecht said in an interview Thursday. “If charges were intended to be filed, why was there such a long wait to file those charges? And it was after I had announced my candidacy for office.”
Liebrecht refused to discuss the details of the allegations citing the pending criminal proceedings, but said he “certainly would” work as a lawmaker to fight revenge porn if elected. He said the case against him “has nothing to do with crime, it has everything to do with politics.”
A court affidavit written by Officer Jeremy Wyskiel of the Colchester Police Department says Liebrecht admitted to posting the nude photos in a meeting at the Colchester Police headquarters in late August.
Liebrecht allegedly told the officer that his ex-girlfriend “has a temper and a marijuana addiction.”
“Patrick admitted to me that he had posted the nude picture of [his ex-girlfriend] on [her] mother’s Facebook wall,” the affidavit says.
"Patrick [Liebrecht] advised he was upset at [his ex-girlfriend] that she split up with him, she 'black-balled' him he called it and that 'she's seeing a Mexican' and he was pissed off so he posted the picture." - Police Affidavit
Later, the affidavit says Liebrecht told police “he was upset at [his ex-girlfriend] that she split up with him, she “black-balled” him he called it and that ‘she’s seeing a Mexican’ and he was pissed off so he posted the picture. Patrick tried minimizing the incident and commented that the picture was only up there for 30 seconds.”
The affidavit says that once Wyskiel explained the offense and the consequences, Liebrecht “became reluctant to further cooperate, advised he would be in contact with his attorney and refused to provide fingerprints and a photograph.”
Liebrecht said in an interview Thursday that he is not dropping out of the race, “because I’m not guilty and I have a message. I have people that support me and I made a promise that I would go to Montpelier, and that I would defend their right to keep this state affordable so they can stay here and their kids can stay here too.”
Liebrecht said dropping out of the race would set a dangerous precedent.
“I would say if that was the case then anybody could make any allegation against any candidate at the last minute to keep them out of the race and it would create chaos,” Liebrecht said.
Jeff Bartley, the executive director of the Vermont Republican Party, said he learned about the allegations Wednesday afternoon when a WCAX reporter called to ask for a comment.
“We are not supporting his campaign going forward,” Bartley said Thursday. “We haven’t asked for him to step out of the race. Is it something he should be considering? Yes. But we haven’t gone that far. He has the right to run, and so we’re right now with four, five days left in the election, we’re just putting our resources in areas we know are competitive and we have candidates that are running good and strong campaigns. So going forward, he’s not going to be getting any more time or resources from the Vermont Republican Party.”
Bartley unequivocally condemned Liebrecht’s alleged allegations, including the suggestion that Liebrecht used his status as a Republican candidate to threaten his ex-girlfriend. He also noted that Republicans supported the 2015 law that Liebrecht is accused of breaking.
“If these allegations are true, they are deeply disturbing and absolutely disgusting,” he said. “There’s no room for that in the Republican Party or any political party for that matter. The legislature, I think it was last year or two years ago, took up legislation and passed – it was bi-partisan – to make revenge porn a felony offense for situations just like this. And furthermore, it’s unacceptable for any person to use their candidacy or support of a political party or other candidate as a means to intimidate, bully, threaten or harass anyone. It’s indefensible.”
