Lawsuit accuses Tom Ganley of sexual assault; his lawyer calls suit
extortion
Published: Thursday, September 30, 2010, 11:30 PM Updated: Friday,
October 01, 2010, 9:56 AM

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A 39-year-old Cleveland woman sued auto dealer and
Republican congressional candidate Tom Ganley on Thursday, accusing him
of sexually assaulting her in his office last year.

The married mother of four filed the civil suit in Cuyahoga County
Common Pleas Court after months of attorney negotiations and a five-hour
mediation conference failed to reach a settlement. She seeks damages in
excess of $25,000.


Ganley's lawyer, former prosecutor Steve Dever, called the charges
extortion and said they were motivated by politics.

"These are baseless allegations, the only motive being to extort money
and to cause political harm to a good and decent man," Dever said
Thursday night. "Tom Ganley is not the type of person who's going to
back down from threats and be extorted for financial gain."

"Unfortunately, his day in court won't come until after the election,"
Dever said.

The lawsuit is the first public allegation made by the woman, who never
told police of the August 2009 encounter with Ganley and still has not
filed a police report. The Plain Dealer does not identify people who
claim to be victims of sexual assault.

Ganley, a conservative Republican, faces incumbent Betty Sutton, a
Democrat, in the 13th Congressional District. He had not shown much
interest in running for public office before last year and contributed
little money to politicians. He describes himself as an political
outsider whose business experience qualifies him for office.

Ganley's companies -- which include car dealerships, insurance, finance
and real estate companies -- are worth between $44 million and $214
million, according to financial disclosure forms he filed with the U.S.
Senate. His network of dealerships comprise the largest auto group in
Ohio, and he employs more than 1,000 people.

The 68-year-old Ganley has been married to his wife Lois, whom he met in
elementary school, for 45 years and has four children and eight
grandchildren, according to his campaign website.

Woman says she met him at Tea Party meeting

His accuser said she attended a Cleveland Tea Party rally where Ganley
spoke on July 3, 2009, when he was a candidate for the U.S. Senate,
before he decided to run for Congress. Impressed by Ganley's
anti-abortion platform, the lawsuit says, the woman approached him,
introduced herself and her children and offered to volunteer on his
campaign.

The woman then visited Ganley's Chevrolet dealership on Lorain Avenue in
Cleveland three times during the following weeks, to discuss volunteer
campaign duties and a reduction in the interest rate on a car loan she
received from a Ganley dealership, the lawsuit says.

Ganley talked during the meetings about fixing her van for free,
reducing her interest rate and giving her a job at a dealership,
according to the suit.

In their second meeting, Ganley told the woman that he and his wife lead
separate lives and live on opposite sides of their home, the suit says.
In each of the meetings, the suit says, Ganley pressed her about what
she does for "fun."

On her last visit to Ganley's office, Aug. 1, the woman said she dropped
off her van for repairs. While she waited in Ganley's office, the suit
says, he made sexually suggestive comments and invited her to join him
and his friends at a condominium he owns in Strongsville. Ganley gave
her a $100 bill and told her to buy some lingerie and high-heeled shoes,
according to the lawsuit.

Ganley told her he wanted her to dominate her, parade her on a leash and
have sex with her in front of his "play friends," the suit says. It
accuses him of grabbing her from behind, wrapping his arms around her,
kissing her and, despite her resistance, reaching into her pants.

No report made to police

The woman said she never reported the incident to police because she
didn't think anyone would believe her, partly because of Ganley's ties
to law enforcement. Ganley runs Crime Stoppers of Northern Ohio, a crime
tip line that works closely with police, and is well known for having
helped the FBI with an organized crime investigation.

Shortly after the incident, however, the woman told several of her
friends about it, the lawsuit says. Encouraged by a mutual friend, the
woman approached attorney Ed Heben on Oct. 1 and told him her story,
Heben said.

On Oct. 9, she wrote a letter to Ganley, chastising him for his actions.

"I came to you as a customer and you treated me like a hooker," she
wrote in the letter, included with the lawsuit. "On one hand here's this
man I respect, who's helping me and then I felt at the same time that I
was being completely taken advantage of.

"You are no different than the Democrats," she said. She is a registered
Republican.

In that letter, the woman described in graphic terms what she alleges
Ganley said to her, but she made no mention of any physical assault. The
suit says she left out details of the assault because she feared Ganley
would interpret them as a threat.

Ganley's attorneys and Heben tried for months to reach an out-of-court
settlement. Later, they met in a Sept. 13 mediation hearings, and Ganley
agreed to pay the mediation costs, including $500 an hour to the
mediator, the suit says.

Dever described the negotiations as "an endless drumbeat of threats" by
Heben, the bottom line being "pay the money or get sued."

Dever said the mediation session was an attempt to ascertain what the
woman was alleging.

"We found absolutely no corroboration whatsoever," Dever said.

© 2010 cleveland.com. All rights reserved.
--
Republicans are the Party of No:
No Leaders / No Ideas / No Morals

On Fri, 01 Oct 2010 12:45:01 -0400, Secular Humoresque
wrote:


Lawsuit accuses Tom Ganley of sexual assault; his lawyer calls suit
extortion
Published: Thursday, September 30, 2010, 11:30 PM Updated: Friday,
October 01, 2010, 9:56 AM

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A 39-year-old Cleveland woman sued auto dealer and
Republican congressional candidate Tom Ganley on Thursday, accusing him
of sexually assaulting her in his office last year.


just like the nutjob o'donnell...christian right winger who sure a
right wing organization for sexual discrimination. good thing
feminsits protected her rights.