Child Sex Abuse Charges Dropped Against Longtime FAIR Attorney
Child sex assault charges have been dropped against Michael M. Hethmon, a senior counsel for the legal arm of the anti-immigrant hate group Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the Washington Post reported.
Hethmon, who was running for a seat in the Maryland House of Delegates, representing part of Prince George’s County, Md., was arrested on Labor Day after a nurse told local enforcement authorities that the lawyer had assaulted her 8-year-old daughter on his property.
The mother of the child, according to WUSA9, was a nurse caring for Hethmon’s 88-year-old father, who lives with him in Upper Marlboro. The nurse reportedly told police that her daughter and Hethmon were outside near a barn on the property in August when he offered to brush hay off her.
The child alleged Hethmon then put his hands inside her pants and touched her sexually. Then he attempted, according to court records, to put the child’s hand inside his pants.
Hethmon was arrested and, although he was free on bail, suspended his campaign against veteran Democratic Maryland state lawmaker, Del. Joseph F. Vallario. Hethmon was running as a Republican in the newly drawn 23rd district.
But last week, according to the Post, a Maryland grand jury moved to dismiss the case.
“I feel like I’ve gotten my life back,” the Post quoted Hethmon as saying.
Hethmon has resumed his long-shot campaign. In a letter to his supporters after the charges were dropped, Hethmon said, “The suspension and horrific publicity has been devastating to what was always a modest effort to provide citizens a choice on the ballot other than the incumbent machine candidates.”
Hethmon has been instrumental to FAIR’s legal arm, the Washington-based Immigration Reform Law Institute, and its efforts to pass harsh anti-immigrant legislation across the country. He has cynically said in the past that he didn’t care if these laws turned out to be unconstitutional or if fighting for them in the courts were to be financially disastrous for states and localities, which they have been.
