By John Celock
The campaign of the Democratic nominee for Kansas governor is apologizing to the state after state Republicans criticized the Democrat for running an ad with an alleged “sexual deviant”.
The Kansas Republican Party released a statement Wednesday saying that Jeff Montague, an actor appearing in Democratic gubernatorial nominee Paul Davis’ new commercial, has a history of sexually related offenses. In the statement, the GOP includes documentation that indicates that Montague was banned from the Boy Scouts as a troop leader after accusations of inappropriately touching a student. The Republican Party also gave documentation that Montague was arrested for alledgely soliciting sodomy in a Topeka park in 2007. Montague entered into a diversion agreement with local court officials in order to drop the charges. Davis is challenging Gov. Sam Brownback (R) in a close race.
“The use of an actor with this sort of background raises serious questions about Paul Davis’ judgment and what kind of people he would surround himself with if elected,” Kansas Republican Party executive director Clay Barker said in the statement.
The ad featured Montague standing next to Davis as the two went back and forth discussing Davis’ record, those who have seen the ad, which was released Wednesday told The Celock Report. The ad has since been removed by the Davis campaign. Barker had called on Davis to remove the ad and to apologize to the state.
At the end of the ad, Davis puts his hand on Montague’s shoulder and says “Thanks Jeff. You’re not so bad yourself,” according to the release from the GOP. Kansas Republicans released a screen shot of Davis and Montague from the end of the ad.
Davis campaign spokesman Chris Pumpelly released a statement Wednesday afternoon saying that the campaign pulled the ad after hearing the allegations about Montague. He also issued an apologize to Kansas residents.
“We produced a series of ads. Today, it was brought to our attention that a participant in one of those ads has serious issues in his background. Upon hearing of these issues, the ad, which ran for a few hours, was pulled down immediately,” Pumpelly said. “I want to apologize to Kansans for this mistake.”
In the records released by the GOP, Montague is banned by the Boy Scouts as a troop leader in Kansas following a suspension from his post as a teacher at Seaman High School, following allegations that he inappropriately touched a male foreign exchange student at the school. The records from the Boy Scouts indicate that a student at the high school had notified local scouting officials of the suspension after an assistant principal told the student why Montague was suspended. The records say that school officials declined to provide the Boy Scouts with documentation of why Montague was suspended, saying “he is on medical leave and his contract will not be renewed.” The information was in a hand written note from Donald Townsend, the scout executive for the Jayhawk Area Council to Paul Ernst, registration services director for the Boy Scouts of America.
The suspension letter from the Boy Scouts to Montague said that the Scouts had received calls from “several volunteers” with the school district and that a review had concluded that Montague should be banned. The letter offered Montague an appeals process but the documents released by the GOP did not indicate if he sought an appeal.
The documents released by the GOP also includes an arrest ticket for Montague issued by Topeka Police in October 2007 following a prostitution sting in a local park. In the arrest, Montague is accused of “soliciting sodomy” while in the park. Details of the incident are not in the ticket.
Montague entered into a diversion agreement with Topeka court officials where he agreed to not be arrested for one year, pay a fine and enter into a treatment program. Under the terms of the agreement, which was provided by the GOP the charges against Montague would be dropped after a year. The diversion agreement Montague entered into is common for first time offenders in other areas of the country.
The accusations regarding Montague come as Davis and Brownback are locked in a competitive race. Polls have shown Davis to be leading the one-term Republican.
Barker said that including Montague in the ad raised questions about Davis.
“Sex crimes, particularly those with children and students, are a serious matter and associating a campaign with someone of this background raises doubts about Paul Davis’ fitness for office,” Barker said. “Paul Davis should remove the ad immediately and apologize to all Kansans.”