A view inside the House of Delegates chamber at the Virginia State Capitol, February 7, 2019 in Richmond, Virginia. AFP FILE PHOTO
(Updated to correct the headline)
RICHMOND, Virginia 鈥� A candidate in a high-stakes legislative contest in Virginia had sex with her husband in live videos posted on a pornographic website and asked viewers to pay them money in return for carrying out specific sex acts.
Screenshots of Susanna Gibson on the website were shared with The Associated Press. The campaign for Gibson, a Democrat running for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates in a district just outside Richmond, issued a statement Monday denouncing the sharing of the videos as a violation of the law and her privacy. Gibson called the exposure of the videos 鈥渢he worst gutter politics.鈥�
鈥淚t won鈥檛 intimidate me and it won鈥檛 silence me,鈥� she said in the statement. 鈥淢y political opponents and their Republican allies have proven they鈥檙e willing to commit a sex crime to attack me and my family because there鈥檚 no line they won鈥檛 cross to silence women when they speak up.鈥�
The Washington Post first reported the videos on Monday.
The revelation marked an explosive turn in a contest that will carry significant weight in determining the balance of power in the Virginia General Assembly. The race has attracted large amounts of spending and interest for an off-year legislative race.
Democrats control the Senate by a four-vote margin, and Republicans control the House of Delegates by the same margin, with four seats currently vacant. The parties are waging intense legislative battles as GOP rising national political star Gov. Glenn Youngkin looks to bolster his conservative agenda with full control of state government.
Gibson said that exposing the videos is 鈥渁n illegal invasion of my privacy designed to humiliate me and my family.鈥� Gibson鈥檚 attorney, Daniel P. Watkins, said that disseminating the videos is a violation of Virginia鈥檚 revenge porn law, which makes it a crime to 鈥渕aliciously鈥� disseminate or sell nude or sexual images of another person with the intent to 鈥渃oerce, harass, or intimidate.鈥�
鈥淎 criminal act has occurred here, and that鈥檚 the dissemination of revenge porn by a Republican operative,鈥� Watkins told the AP.
Watkins cited a 2021 Virginia Court of Appeals ruling that found it was unlawful for a man to secretly record his girlfriend during a consensual sexual encounter even if he did not show the video to other people. The court found that consent to being seen differs from consent to being recorded.
Gibson, 40, a nurse practitioner and married mother of two young children, won a Democratic primary in June and is running against Republican businessman David Owen in one of the most competitive districts in the state.
鈥淚鈥檓 sure this is a difficult time for Susanna and her family, and I鈥檓 remaining focused on my campaign,鈥� Owen said in a statement.
A top-ranking Virginia Democrat immediately came to Gibson鈥檚 defense after the videos were reported by the Post. 鈥淣ow we are going to make this the biggest fundraising day of her campaign,鈥� Sen. L. Louise Lucas said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Garren Shipley, a spokesman for Republican House Speaker Todd Gilbert, did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
Gibson and Owen are competing in the 57th District, an area that includes suburbs of Richmond in both Henrico and Goochland counties. The district chose Youngkin by a 51.2%-to-48.3% margin in 2021, but in the 2022 congressional midterm elections, the split in the district was 50% Democratic to 49.1% Republican.
Gibson has said the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade propelled her into the race.
Gibson had an account on Chaturbate, a legal website where viewers can watch live webcam performances that feature nudity and sexual activity, according to the screenshots reviewed by the AP. The videos show Gibson and her husband, John David Gibson, having sex and, at times, looking into the camera and asking viewers for donations in the form of 鈥渢okens鈥� or 鈥渢ips鈥� to watch a private show.
Chaturbate videos are streamed live on that site and are often archived on other publicly available sites, the Post reported. More than a dozen videos posted under Gibson鈥檚 Chaturbate username were archived on one of those sites 鈥� Recurbate 鈥� in September 2022, the month after she announced her candidacy. The most recent were two videos archived on Sept. 30, 2022. It is unclear when the livestream occurred.
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