Well, this story would seem to fit into the news cycle perfectly, and I look forward to it being covered extensively. It’s the story of a Congressional staffer, whose mere personal Facebook posts we’ve just learned are worthy of blanket network news coverage. But this is not the story of a rant on social media that offended the Beltway’s sensibilities such that it needed to be covered for three days straight.
No, this is the story of a Congressional staffer pleading guilty to sexual assault after being indicted on 10 charges stemming from at least two attacks on women, one a colleague. Sexual assault is a hot-button issue; add to it that the perpetrator, Donny Ray Williams, seems to have a similar modus operandi to the alleged assaults by Bill Cosby, and boy have we got a recipe for an awareness-raising glut of coverage that might change the dynamic that allowed this man to abuse his colleagues in this way. Prepare for think pieces on the toxic environment that led to this type of behavior. Prepare for many questions of his former bosses about what blinded them to the abuse happening under their noses. Prepare for official inquiries of who knew what when, and whether Williams’ behavior had raised red flags in the past.
A former Democratic congressional aide pleaded guilty Tuesday to sexually assaulting two women in 2010.
Donny Ray Williams Jr., 37, who served as a staff director for the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee, pleaded guilty to third-degree sexual abuse, two misdemeanor counts of sexual abuse and one count of misdemeanor threats.
Prosecutors say that on July 22, 2010, Williams invited a female congressional colleague to his Capitol Hill apartment and promised to introduce her to Senate employees. At the house, prosecutors said, Williams spiked a drink with Ambien. The woman, according to court documents, fell into a “deep sleep,” at which point Williams raped her.
A month later, prosecutors said, Williams invited another woman to his home and gave her alcoholic beverages. They said he had sexual contact with her when she was too intoxicated to give her consent.
He’s getting five years of probation. I hope someone will cover Williams. His story doesn’t sastisfactorily scratch all the ideological itches of the campus assault activists like the questionably sourced story of gang rape at University of Virginia did. He’s not a Republican staffer engaged in the heinous practice of venting about White House occupants on Facebook. He’s just a Democratic staffer who raped a woman and assaulted another in 2010, and I’m betting he doesn’t make the nightly newscasts.
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