COLUMBUS — Media reports on Monday have said that Wes Goodman, a GOP state representative who resigned after being caught with another man, harassed and pursued gay men when he worked in Washington.
From cleveland.com:
The married, 33-year-old was elected to the 87th district seat in 2016 after working for the Conservative Action Project, a network of economic, social and national security conservatives. He previously worked for conservative U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, a Champaign County Republican.
Johnny Hadlock, then a staffer for another GOP congressman in Washington, said he met Goodman in 2010. Hadlock said he confided in Goodman that he was a closeted gay man and the two began exchanging text messages.
In an interview with cleveland.com, Hadlock described the messages as sexting and gay banter, and said he engaged in phone sex with Goodman.
“Wes never sexually harassed me — we both knew what we were doing and we were both fine doing it,” Hadlock said.
However, others told cleveland.com hat Goodman engaged in predatory behavior toward younger men after leaving Jordan’s office, pursuing them through text messages and social media..
A conservative operative told the website that Goodman would target college kids who wanted to have him as a mentor and were scared to report his sexual advances because they didn’t want to damage their own careers. A former co-worker shared screenshots of messages Goodman sent him that the operative likened to the lewd texts that derailed the congressional career of New York’s Anthony Weiner.
The article goes into detail about Goodman looking for men through Craigslist and even being forced from his position with conservative organizations because of his behavior.
