A second woman has come forward with an allegation of sexual assault against Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D-VA), claiming the embattled Virginia Democrat raped her while they were in college in 2000.
In a statement through her lawyer, the accuser, Meredith Watson said she confided in classmates about the alleged incident immediately after it occurred, and shared her account with others in emails and Facebook messages. According to Watson, while she and Fairfax were friends at Duke University, the two had not dated or been intimate prior to the alleged incident. "At this time, Ms. Watson is reluctantly coming forward out of a strong sense of civic duty and her belief that those seeking or serving in public office should be of the highest character," Watson's lawyer, Nancy Erika Smith, said Friday. "She has no interest in becoming a media personality or reliving the trauma that has greatly affected her life. Similarly, she is not seeking any financial damages."
Watson is calling on Fairfax to resign.
In a statement to the
Washington Post, Fairfax spokesperson Lauren Burke
said: "[W]e're calling for an investigation on all of these matters."
On Wednesday,
Fairfax's first accuser, Dr. Vanessa Tyson, went public with her allegation, claiming the Lt. governor sexually assaulted her during the 2004 Democrat National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts.
Comment: Justin Fairfax, Vanessa Tyson and the Democrats' #MeToo debacle