Behind the curve about a day or so, the Associated Press weighs in on the Sutton allegations
The attorney general and state Senate leaders are investigating allegations of possible sexual misconduct involving a state lawmaker and an 18-year-old legislative page.Read it all here at the Aberdeen American News' website.The father of the former page, believed to be a male, has accused Sen. Dan Sutton, D-Flandreau, of misconduct during the last legislative session, said Senate Democratic Leader Garry Moore of Yankton.
Moore and other officials would not discuss specifics of the allegation.
Sutton, who served one term in the state House and is finishing a third term in the Senate, did not return messages left Wednesday at his work and home.
His attorney, Mike Butler of Sioux Falls, said at a news conference that the accusations are an attempt to publicly destroy Sutton.
Butler said an investigator for the state Division of Criminal Investigation contacted Sutton during the legislative session last spring. Butler said he advised Sutton not to make a statement at the time because investigators made no specific accusations.
According to Sioux Falls television station KSFY, the Stanley County state's attorney said the investigation focused on an alleged incident at a Fort Pierre motel.
and..South Dakota Senate President Pro Tem Lee Schoenbeck, R-Watertown, confirmed Wednesday that Sutton is the target of both a criminal and state Senate investigation involving an 18-year-old legislative page.
"As the presiding officer of the Senate, I got a complaint from parents of a page about a senator's conduct towards that page of a sexual nature during the session, and we take those things serious," Schoenbeck said.
"When a formal complaint like that's made, two things are going to happen. The person accused is going to be entitled to a hearing, if they want one, and we're going to take the complaint seriously. We're going to investigate it. It's going to run its course, whatever in the end that is.
"The senators feel very strongly about the page program, and any allegation of any improper conduct towards a page is going to be investigated and dealt with."
Schoenbeck said the allegations against Sutton have been the subject of a criminal investigation for months.
Comments
Wiese knew (and so does everyone else) that he couldn't beat Sutton. Wiese reports this ALLEGATION a.k.a RUMOR to the authorities and they cant find ANYTHING after months and tons of interviews. Gimmie a break. If there was any truth to this crap they would have "cuffed and stuffed" Sutton by now.
It's all false, everyone from Suttons district knows that and when all the facts come out....so will everyone else.
Give Sutton a break. Wait for the TRUTH!!!! And as far as I know....an ALLEGATION is not nor ever has been a SYNONYM for FACT or TRUTH.
It's obviously not political since the people involved are all Democrats, but the timing of everything leaves a lot of questions to be answered.
How can you endorse someone for political office when you believe he has sexually abused your son? Would this issue be moot if Wiese was still running for governor?
It's a sad, sick situation where everyone involved loses.
How long could this investigation possibly take when there are no witnesses and no evidence?
At this point, the Republican AG and his Republican colleagues are misusing the power of their offices for a smear campaign 3 weeks before the election(WITH NO CHANCE WHATSOEVER FOR A CRIMINAL CONVICTION) hoping to steal a safe Democratic senate seat as the Dems are threatening to take over the Senate.
This is a total abuse of the power of government!
Maybe you can shed some light on things, since you're in the know. Why would Wiese use his son in this way just to gain a little political advantage? And what would make him report it to Senate leadership after he's long gone from the Governor's race, if that was his motivation for reporting in the first place?
From my outsider/just reading news & blog reports view, it seems as though this is a father not wanting a pervert to get away with something. Mike Butler went on about how the families are such great friends. Why would Wiese try to ruin Sutton (and use his son) unless he believed the truth of the allegations?
As for criminal investigations still going on, you all have no idea, obviously.
So for those who say "you know the truth" because of family relations, I think you forgot that family relations ended the night Dan did this, in fact, I have yet to receive a call from him denying or explaining anything, and he was one my closest friends...coincidence? You are all so out of the loop that you are creating the very "trial by media" that you are disgusted by.
Regardless of the criminality of the situation, the legislature is still right to have a hearing to see if any rules were violated or misconduct occured.
A smear campaign...excellent defense until the victim speaks out and people realize that he had absolutey nothing to gain from this situation, in fact he lost a friend. The smear campaign works for now because it's easy to say Dennis has political motivations (albeit untrue), but why would his son? Maybe they didn't want to make it public initially for Dan's benefit, to give him a chance to repent, resign, or simply get help? All I ask is for you to consider that you are creating the very problem you write about. This is a politician facing a criminal charge...that's the ONLY reason its political...you'll see.
It also unintentionally makes another point. A tendency to blame the victim in a sexual abuse situation is why many female rape victims don't come forward right away.
Now do you guys get it?
For the most part, everyone in the legislature respects one another. As a Republican, I can tell you that Dan has the highest respect from everyone including Republicans. To challenge that this is some sort of political stunt by certain Republicans is reprehensible and you have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!!!!!
What type of savage goes after the victim of a homosexual assault and calls him a puss?
PP, that's really out of line to allow here.
You can't defend Sutton so you smear his alleged victim? Sad. So very sad. And pretty darn pathetic.
I agree with 3:47, your comment was out of line no matter which party you belong to and it should be deleted. This kid doesn't need to be victimized again.
Your remark is a classic example of why sexual abuse and sexual assault victims are reluctant to come forward.
Blaming the victim. Can you crawl any lower?
anon 3:40
I even know that some of the Wiese family isnt even behind Dennis on this issue, that's that sad part.
That is not to say that I automatically believe that Sutton did that, but it would be highly unusual for any guy to publicly accuse someone else of something like that. Most of them would do anything they could to keep people from finding that out due to embarrassment.
I don't know this kid, but what some people believe is arrogance and cockiness might be a defense mechanism to cover up embarrassment and humiliation.
I almost hope it is true because it is really tragic if it is not due to the damage that has been done to Sutton's reputation. I also hope that Wiese did everything possible to urge Sutton to get help before blowing the lid on this deal.
We need to keep all of them in our prayers and hope neither party does anything else that is foolish or anything that is irreversible. Enough people have been hurt already.
There was no actual sex involved in either of these cases, unlike the Studds deal where he WAS having sex with his page. Since Studds was a Democrat from Massachusetts, that got him re-elected FIVE more times!
That isn't just sad, that is sick.
In the Sutton situation, however, it is one person's word against the other's.
I have heard other Democrats chastise Sutton on another web site for what they believe happened. None of the Democrats that I've heard comment on this situation are saying what happened was okay, if it indeed happened.