Virginia lieutenant governor Justin Fairfax on Tuesday continued to deny the allegations of sexual assault leveled against him by two women earlier this year, and argued that airing such uncorroborated claims in high-profile television appearances and legislative hearings would be unfair to him as the accused party.
“I believe that anyone willing to come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct should be heard fairly and fully, taken seriously, and treated respectfully,” Fairfax read from a prepared statement. “It is very important for truth to be established and, where sexual assault has, in fact, occurred, for resources and assistance to be provided to survivors.”
“As the person accused, I also deserve to be treated fairly, seriously, and respectfully. A just society requires fairness and due process,” he continued. “In that regard, I do not believe that national television appearances or legislative hearings are the right vehicles to get at the truth. Sensationalizing allegations does not make them true. Yet, airing salacious allegations without evidence does enormous damage.”
Vanessa Tyson, who claims Fairfax forced her to perform oral sex on him in a Boston hotel room in 2004, and Meredith Watson, who claims Fairfax raped her when they were undergraduates at Duke University, each described the alleged attacks in a series of nationally televised interviews that aired on Monday and Tuesday.
“He’s pushing down and pushing down — and I couldn’t hold my neck up. And I didn’t know what was going on,” Tyson told CBS News’ Gayle King. “I honestly didn’t know what was going on. And then the next thing I know, like, my head is, like, literally in his crotch. And I’m choking and gagging. And, you know, I couldn’t say anything ’cause I’m choking and gagging.”
Fairfax previously admitted to having consensual sexual encounters with the two women but forcefully denied assaulting either of them. He has attributed their allegations to an effort to stop his ascension to the governorship, citing the timing of the accusations, which came just days after Virginia governor Ralph Northam faced widespread calls for his resignation over the emergence of a racist photo on his medical-school yearbook page.
During the Wednesday press conference, Fairfax questioned Tyson’s account of their initial meeting, pointing out that he did not arrive in Boston until the day after she said they first met. He also denied her claim that they never spoke after the assault, explaining that she reached out to him by phone but he never responded.
Responding to Watson’s allegations, Fairfax denied ever having a conversation in which he mentioned a previous sexual-assault allegation she brought against a Duke basketball player.
“She has alleged we later had a conversation about the encounter where I supposedly raised the fact that she had previously accused a Duke basketball player of raping her and therefore thought she would be too afraid to report another assault. No version of that conversation ever occurred,” he said.
In an effort to bolster his denials, Fairfax on Wednesday released a series of polygraph-test results that indicate he was being truthful when he denied both assault allegations. He also said Tuesday that his attorney has reached out to the relevant authorities to ask that they launch an investigation into the allegations brought against him.