Another day, another Christian conservative gets caught with his hands down someone else’s pants.
Even worse, this is a case of another ardently anti-gay politician getting caught having relations with the same sex. Worst of all, the victim is a little boy.
New Jersey state senate hopeful Eric Bodenweiser is being charged in a 113-count indictment for having sex with a boy, reports the News Journal. When Bodenweiser decided to run for the high-profile office, is when the accuser and victim, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, broke his 25-year silence about being raped repeatedly between October 1987 and August 1990 when he was between the ages of 10 and 13.
The accuser says he was a neighbor to Bodenweiser in Frankford, N.J. and says all of the instances of alleged abuse occurred inside Bodenweiser’s home.
“I just want to get through this and move on to the next step of my life,” he said. “I’ve been carrying this around for 25 years.”
Bodenweiser, 53, of Georgetown, posted bail — set at $250,000 — on Tuesday, Oct. 23, and was released from Sussex Correctional Institution with orders to have no contact with the alleged victim or anyone under age 18. He will be monitored by GPS technology ahead of a Nov. 19 court appearance at Superior Court in Georgetown.
His political aspirations and promising career is now in complete ruins.
Here’s what the New Journal states:
Bodenweiser’s accuser, on Sept. 13, posted a comment on the website of the Sussex County radio station 92.7 WGMD-FM alleging he’d been molested by Bodenweiser and threatening to go to the media and the Attorney General’s Office. The comment was posted two days after Bodenweiser narrowly defeated incumbent state Sen. Joe Booth to win the Republican nomination to the 19th state Senate District.
“How can ANYONE vote for a Man that has some pretty scary Skeletons in his closet?” the accuser wrote. “I am coming forward now with my story to bring an end to Eric Bodenweiser’s lies & deceit to the general public. This so called God Fearing Man Molested me for several yrs at his home in Cuelen Acres in Frankford! He was in a position of power then, and I’ll be damned if I am going to allow him to abuse that power now!”
Before the Delaware State Police investigation into Bodenweiser and his arrest Monday, the Georgetown Republican and self-proclaimed member of the tea party had become a rising star of conservative politics.
Bodenweiser delivered a social conservative message during his own remarks at the Sept. 27 event. “When we win in November, it’s going to be because of all of us that hold to the principles and values that founded this great nation. That includes Christianity,” Bodenweiser said. “This is a very conservative district, and I think it deserves a conservative senator.”
After the fundraiser, Bodenweiser began to skip out on campaign events, and on Oct. 12 it was reported that he had become the subject of a Delaware State Police criminal investigation.
Bodenweiser suspended his campaign on Oct. 12 and filed paperwork on Oct. 17 with the state Elections Commissioner to have his name removed from the ballots. Elections officials say they will obscure his name with stickers on Nov. 6.
