Arizona congressional candidate says she was raped trying to repair campaign sign
A Democratic congressional candidate in Arizona says she was raped over the summer while trying to repair a campaign sign.
Bernadette Greene-Placentia, who is running in the state's 8th district to try to unseat GOP Rep. Abe Hamadeh, told the Phoenix New Times, a local news outlet, that she was attacked at around 2 a.m. as she was walking toward a campaign sign in a parking lot in Sun City, north of Phoenix.
Greene-Placentia said she was attacked, subdued and then woke up to find that she was being raped by an unknown assailant.
Greene-Placentia told the news outlet she reported the assault to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, and that she chose to tell her story because she had been talking about fighting for Arizona residents while campaigning "and I didn't feel like I could keep saying that if I weren't also fighting for women that are victims of sexual assault."
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office confirmed to ABC News that a report was filed on Aug. 31 and that there is an ongoing investigation, but said the office could not comment further on the investigation.
In a statement to ABC News, a campaign spokesperson said the attack happened around 2 a.m. on Aug. 14.
"Bernadette made the difficult decision to speak publicly about the assault because she wants other survivors to know they are not alone," the spokesperson said. "She is grateful for the support she has received from the community and asks that her privacy be respected as she continues to process what happened."
In a phone call with ABC News, Greene-Placentia's campaign manager, Isaiah Lopez, confirmed that she went "missing in action" for two days following the assault.
Lopez said the campaign was at a canvass event in Chandler, Arizona, a couple days after the alleged assault on a Sunday, and she was "noticeably distraught." He said he and her communications manager spoke with her privately that day while the campaign event was still going on where she told them that she'd been raped while repairing campaign signs.
In a statement, Greene-Placentia's opponent in the House race, Hamadeh, said: "I have read the disturbing story and call upon authorities to investigate these serious allegations thoroughly, including finding all possible camera footage of the time and place in order to prosecute the crime to the fullest extent of the law. No American should become a victim of a crime in their own community."
