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Colorado Senate Candidate Ken Buck Faces Controversy Over Rape Case

1 year ago

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Colorado GOP Senate candidate Ken Buck, the Weld County district attorney, is facing criticism from a liberal group for not prosecuting an acquaintance-rape complaint five years ago, when he told The Greeley Tribune that a jury might conclude that "this is a case of buyer's remorse."

The Colorado Independent reported the case Monday in the first of three parts. On Tuesday, the progressive online news site published a transcript of a call the accuser made to the man allegedly involved at the request of police. In that recorded call, the man acknowledged the couple hadn't had consensual sex, according to the transcript obtained by the site. The Colorado Independent also said it interviewed the woman.

Buck is challenging Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, who was appointed to office in January 2009 after Sen. Ken Salazar was appointed Interior secretary.

Buck's campaign spokesman, Owen Loftus, noted that the Boulder County District Attorney's Office reviewed the facts of the case and agreed with Buck's decision not to file charges. Buck sent the files to Boulder for a second review.

"The fact is you could not get a jury to prosecute this man," Loftus said.

Loftus said ProgressNow Colorado, a group that advocates for Democratic candidates, has been pushing the story to mainstream media outlets. Denver's Fox News station and the Associated Press have followed the Colorado Independent's story.

A book published earlier this year about Democrats' takeover of Colorado politics noted ties between ProgressNow and the Colorado Independent, part of the larger American Independent Media group. (Disclosure: I worked for what is now the Colorado Independent in its first year of operation, 2006-07.)

"This organization was developed to smear Republicans," Loftus said of ProgressNow.

The 2005 case involved a then-21-year-old Greeley college student who invited a former boyfriend to her apartment. She was drunk, and the man allegedly ended up having sex with her as she passed in and out of consciousness, telling him "no" several times, according to the Colorado Independent and police reports. In the telephone transcript released Tuesday, the man acknowledged those circumstances when questioned by the woman.

When Buck refused to file charges and take the case to trial, the woman met with the prosecutor and recorded the conversation without Buck's knowledge, according to the Colorado Independent's story.

"It would appear to me and it appears to others that you invited him over to have sex with him," Buck told the woman.

Buck also brought up the woman's prior pregnancy by the man she accused when the two had a relationship.

"You have, you have had HIS [emphasis in the transcript] baby, and you had an abortion," Buck said.

The woman countered that she'd had a miscarriage, though she and the man had discussed an abortion.

Abortion is an issue in the close race between Buck and Bennet. Through last Thursday, NARAL Pro-Choice America had spent $20,868 on Bennet's behalf, while the National Right to Life Political Action Committee had spent $39,622 on Buck's behalf. The Bennet campaign has run an ad attacking Buck on reproductive health issues. ProgressNow and other groups have complained about Buck's position on abortion and other women's issues.

Buck campaigns on an anti-abortion plank, opposing abortion in cases of rape and incest. During his primary against former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton, Buck also said he supported a "personhood" ballot initiative that supporters acknowledge would outlaw many forms of birth control in addition to abortion. During a Monday debate, he said he is no longer taking a position on that initiative or others on the Colorado ballot.

During the primary, he also jokingly told a crowd that they should vote for him because "I do not wear high heels." Norton later used the remark in campaign ads against him. Buck narrowly won the primary, in which he billed himself as an anti-establishment candidate.

Filed Under: Abortion, Woman Up, 2010 Elections

Tagged: 2010 Elections, 2010 Senate Elections, 2010 Senate Races, abortion, Colorado Elections, colorado independent, Colorado Senate Race, Ken Buck, Michael Bennet, rape, rape case

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phefnero

There is no controversy here. I am from Colorado. There's a woman who won't let this story die. She got drunk, called an old boyfriend over to her house...may or may not have been drugged, and now she's claiming rape. It's not a prosecutable case. Ken Buck made the responsible decision. This would have been a poor use of taxpayer dollars to prosecute this case. Since when is it required of a DA to take on a bad case just because the victim wants it? The DA has a bigger responsibility to the people of the state he represents.

October 17 2010 at 5:27 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

jannjanf

Democrats fail to prosecute winnable cases like the black panthers in Pa or they pursue bogus cases like the Duke lacrosse case. Then they criticize about a case that is actually muddled.

October 13 2010 at 12:01 AM Report abuse Permalink +3 rate up rate down Reply

CHABSENTIA

A woman who is drunk invites a former boyfriend who earlier made her pregnant and then both of them discussed an abortion and this case os prosecutable?The democrats are getting desperate and have gone from a campaign of hope and transparency in 2008 to one of fear and smear in 2010 because they cant run on a record of ignoring the people. they fell on their sword for Pelosi, Reed and Obama .

October 12 2010 at 11:44 PM Report abuse Permalink +5 rate up rate down Reply

pocollins

I imagine he was probably trying to show her the badgering she was in for from the defense attorney if this was taken to trial. If the Boulder County prosecutors thought the case was not winnable as well, then you need to run a commercial against them. The mud slinging and personal attacks by Democrats this year has started earlier than ever because they know they can't stand on their voting records or accomplishments. It is just turning voters off even earlier. Hurry, November!

October 12 2010 at 6:33 PM Report abuse Permalink +10 rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to pocollins's comment

tausands

"The mud slinging and personal attacks by Democrats this year has started earlier than ever " That's okay, the mud-slinging from the Republicans never stopped after the last election.

October 12 2010 at 9:17 PM Report abuse Permalink -7 rate up rate down Reply