As he threatened on Friday, state Sen. Daylin Leach (D-Montgomery), today filed a defamation suit in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas against the woman who accused him of sexual misconduct in a 1991 incident.
The story of the allegation broke on Thursday. Cara Taylor said she was 17 and her mother was a legal client of Leach’s when he coerced her to perform oral sex.
Leach has emphatically denied the allegation, calling it preposterous. His suit names Taylor, Gwen Snyder and Colleen Kennedy. Snyder and Kennedy have publicly accused Leach of assaulting Taylor; Leach calls them “co-conspirators” that have “shown a reckless disregard for the truth.”
Through Twitter, Snyder claimed the defamation suit from Leach is a “desperation move” and is reinforcing her calls for him to resign.
In a statement representing all three women, Marni Jo Snyder said that Leach’s defamation suit “makes me sick.”
“They have strong voices that they are entitled to use, and I know that there are many people out there who value those voices. I will only say at this time that truth is an absolute defense to the claim and that Mr. Leach’s condemnation of the #MeToo movement as a method for defamation makes me sick,” she said. “It is not for Mr. Leach to determine the nature or rules of the movement…Mr. Leach’s decision to file is an unsuccessful attempt to silence these women and an attack on free speech… and we are sick of it.”
AccountabilityPA has been calling for Leach to resign and has created a GoFundMe to support their legal defense fund.
Leach has made headlines in the past couple of years in regards to different misconduct allegations while he’s been a sitting Senator. Gov. Tom Wolf called on him to resign after allegations were made public in Dec 2017 and in a PennLive story from Friday states he stands by his position that the Democratic state Senator should resign.
This story was updated with a comment from Marni Jo Snyder, spokesperson for Cara Taylor, Gwen Snyder and Colleen Kennedy.
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7 Responses
One recurring quote Ms Taylor says throughout the claim (if anyone else has actually read it, as I have) is if I am lying, then sue me. Well, she just got her wish. See? Everyone wins. Time to prove your claims. Or not. Maybe Raging whatever can help you. I somehow doubt it.
Daylin is a coward and a bully. He is a disgrace to his party, his state, his gender, and his religion. This is his death rattle. He should hereafter be offered no quarter.
Resign, if you have any dignity left.
Simple solution, both sides agree to have the girl and the Senator polygraphed, use same expert for both with the results used as evidence in the court case. It would not be the first times a test was allowed.
I have a simple answer, both sides should agree to polygraph examinations and stipulate the results may be entered as evidence. there are cases when polygraph results were admitted at trail. Have an expert conduct the examination! have both sides use the same examiner, the FBI has good examiners!
But then again, he COULD be telling the truth. And after all, isn’t this a claim from 1991? Even if true, it should be so far beyond any statute of limitations that malicious intent to injure his reputation from a now non-newsworthy and long private matter should still be a defamation.
Roy Moore was past the statute of limitations too, but voters found it relevant.
It’s not defamation if it’s true (regardless of any motivations, real or imagined). Nor is it a “private matter” if he coerced her. It’s certainly “newsworthy”.
My understanding is: that in addition to the claim of sexual assault, is a claim that Daylin encouraged her to lie on the stand to protect her mother. Hardly a “private matter” (if true).
Gwen Snyder and Colleen Kennedy are clearly advocates for Taylor and the general #BelieveHer movement. They aren’t claiming to be witnesses to the alleged events/assault. Taylor comes off FAR more credible than Daylin, and his apparent tone-deafness to women in his public comments hasn’t helped him at all.
If Daylin tries to bring this to court, and people are testifying under oath, I think he’s going to be in hot water. He’s opened himself up to a whole “pattern and practice” investigation/discovery into his history with women (and any past complaints received by the Senate Dems and/or the PA Dems).
I get the strategy to intimidate the women (legally and financially), and the overall defiance. But, he’s screwed if he takes the stand, because it’s likely that there are multiple women that might come forward to directly rebut his testimony/assertions. If 5 or 10 women tell similar stories under oath about him, that contradict his claims, who is the jury going to believe?
Note: Even though the women in the Inquirer article were “anonymous”, you can be pretty sure that Gwen and Colleen know at least a few. They could all be subpoenaed.
BTW, Daylin’s supporters often sound like Roy Moore’s supporters.
Wolf has already called for Daylin to resign, and that was BEFORE Taylor came forward. So, Daylin’s not going to be getting much help from the party. I’ve seen little support for Daylin outside the Montco Dems (who, so far, have been pretty much blindly defending him).
Daylin already has one announced challenger for the 2020 primary.