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Ohio House Speaker Rosenberger Denies He Knew About Wes Goodman's 'Innapropriate Behavior'

ANDY CHOW
/
STATEHOUSE NEWS BUREAU

The top leader in the Ohio House is speaking out about the resignation of former Representative Wes Goodman who allegedly sexually assaulted a teenager.  The House speaker says he never heard about the accusation.

Goodman resigned and admitted to inappropriate sexual activities inside his state office after a complaint was filed. House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger says he and his staff fielded rumors that Goodman, a married lawmaker known to be anti-LGBTQ, was actually gay.

But Rosenberger says he never heard about an accusation from 2015 reported by The Washington Post that Goodman sexually assaulted an 18-year-old during an event in D.C. He added that he’s disappointed the conservative group that hosted the event knew about the incident and never told him.

"There are some conversations that they need to have with themselves about why did they not follow through with some of their commitments, I’m extremely disappointed in that,” said Rosenberger.

The Post reported that Tony Perkins, the head of the Family Research Council, told the family that their allegation would not be ignored.

Andy Chow is a general assignment state government reporter who focuses on environmental, energy, agriculture, and education-related issues. He started his journalism career as an associate producer with ABC 6/FOX 28 in Columbus before becoming a producer with WBNS 10TV.