Senator Ron Johnson knew since 2011 about Assemblyman Kramer's Sexual Assault

[Smash255]

The # 2 in the Wisconsin Assembly was recently charged with two felonies regarding a Seual Assault against a woman in 2011.  The woman was a staffer to Ron Johnson, and did not go to police until other sexual misconduct allegations against Kramer came to light.  She did however tell Johnson, his aide andd the Waukesha GOP chair in 2011.

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 http://www.jsonline.com/news/ron-johnson-did-not-tell-police-of-assault-allegations-three-years-ago-b99240536z1-253954591.html#ixzz2y4VxHFUi

[Smash255]

It seems like a lot of people are passing judgment on Johnson without knowing all of the facts.  If it is true that the alleged victim asked Johnson to stay quiet about the assault, then I see nothing wrong with what he did.  If he influenced her to keep quiet, I certainly would be on the opposite side of the fence, but if she independently chose to not press charges and did not want the incident gaining public attention, that's her choice, and I think Johnson should have honored that.

Until proven, an allegation is simply an allegation, and for some reason, when it comes to sexual assaults, Americans tend to throw due process out the window and vilify the accused before he has had his day in court.

Certainly if I were Johnson, I would have encouraged her to go to the police, and he may have done that; the article doesn't discuss that.

But in not going to the police upon the alleged request of the victim, I don't think Johnson did anything wrong.  On the contrary, if I were the victim and someone had taken this public against my wishes, I'd be pretty pissed.

Yes, I do think it is important to know if she asked him to be quiet or not, but if a friend of yours, someone who worked for you, etc was sexually assaulted would you just say quiet about it or would you go to the police?

[Smash255]

Confidentiality is one thing, but when a crime has allegedly been committed, that makes confidentiality less of a valid issue. Kramer moving up in the leadership could have given him more authority to commit crime unchecked, as more authority can equal the ability to shut people up. When Kramer moved up, that's when Johnson should have had a talk with the leadership.

I'd argue that he should've made that appeal to the alleged victim first.  If, after making that plea, she still wanted him to stay quiet, I still think there's an ethical problem with violating her wishes.

Isn't there an ethical problem with knowing someone committed a Sexual Assault and not alerting the Authorities??  This wasn't some minor crime that Johnson stayed quiet about.   

We don't even know who wanted who to stay quiet first, but even assuming that she was the one who wanted to stay quiet, when its something like sexual assault and you know about it, you have an ethical responsibility to do something about it. 

[Smash255]

Confidentiality is one thing, but when a crime has allegedly been committed, that makes confidentiality less of a valid issue. Kramer moving up in the leadership could have given him more authority to commit crime unchecked, as more authority can equal the ability to shut people up. When Kramer moved up, that's when Johnson should have had a talk with the leadership.

I'd argue that he should've made that appeal to the alleged victim first.  If, after making that plea, she still wanted him to stay quiet, I still think there's an ethical problem with violating her wishes.

Isn't there an ethical problem with knowing someone committed a Sexual Assault and not alerting the Authorities??  This wasn't some minor crime that Johnson stayed quiet about.   

We don't even know who wanted who to stay quiet first, but even assuming that she was the one who wanted to stay quiet, when its something like sexual assault and you know about it, you have an ethical responsibility to do something about it. 

Johnson didn't know someone had committed a sexual assault; he knew someone had allegedly committed a sexual assault.

Do you support mandatory arrest laws in domestic violence instances?

Yes, someone that beats the crap out of their wife/ girlfriend, etc needs to be stopped asap, regardless of whether or not wants to press charges.  Same for those who rape, sexually assault someone.