Sex investigation reopened against judicial candidate
The top state criminal district judge in Travis County appointed a special prosecutor Thursday to investigate whether a judge candidate had sex with a 16-year-old foreign exchange student a dozen years ago.
Rusty Hardin, a noted Houston attorney, will immediately begin investigating the allegations against Chantal Eldridge. It comes about three weeks after Eldridge, a defense lawyer, overwhelmingly defeated incumbent David Crain in the Democratic primary for the 331st Criminal District Court.
In the final weeks of Eldridge’s campaign, a man who lives in Brazil and who stayed with her in 2006 while he was an exchange student came forward to say that
the two had sex when he was 16. Austin police extensively investigated the allegation at the time. But prosecutors said they dropped the investigation partly because the accuser returned home and would not be coming back to the U.S. to testify against Eldridge. She was never charged, and her attorney said the current investigation is politically motivated.
On Thursday, District Attorney Margaret Moore said the man, who is now 27, recently asked her to reopen the case and pledged to cooperate.
Moore said she refrained from taking any action until after the primary and that she has decided that it is appropriate for her and her office to recuse themselves.
“I felt this request by the victim needed to be taken seriously, and it was not appropriate for this office to make any judgment about that request,” Moore said.
Moore submitted a motion of recusal to state District Judge Brenda Kennedy, who requested that Hardin take on the case as a “district attorney pro tem.”
Eldridge defeated Crain in the Democratic primary with nearly 70 percent of the vote. She has steadfastly denied having sex with the boy and blamed politics for the allegation. She has no Republican opponent in the November general election and will likely take office in January.
Charlie Baird, a former judge, is serving as Eldridge’s spokesman and said he thinks the pursuit of an investigation is “unwarranted.”
“This matter was closed 12 years ago after a thorough and complete investigation by law enforcement, during which Ms. Eldridge fully cooperated and provided exculpatory evidence,” he said. “Everyone believed this matter was resolved 12 years ago, and it was only dredged up in the course of a heated political campaign. Ms. Eldridge looks forward to her continued full and complete cooperation, and we hope that this matter is finally resolved in the very near future so that
The accuser told the American-Statesman that he came forward because of concerns that Eldridge likely would preside over cases such as sexual assault.
she can devote her attention toward serving the people of Travis County.”
Allison Wetzel, a former prosecutor who represents the accuser, said in a statement, “He wants to see that justice is done. He will tell the truth just as he did in 2006, when as a teenager he reported that Chantal Eldridge sexually abused him.”
The accuser told the American-Statesman that he came forward because of concerns that Eldridge likely would preside over cases such as sexual assault.
Under current state law, a sexual assault case can be prosecuted at any time with no statute of limitations. But when the allegations involving Eldridge occurred, prosecutors had 10 years from the time of an accuser’s 18th birthday to indict a defendant.
Wetzel said prosecutors are still in that window.
Two days into early voting for the primary, the Statesman published a story detailing a 2006 Austin police investigation into the accusation against Eldridge.
A police report at the time said the teen accused Eldridge of having sex with him after the two played poker and that detectives worked to corroborate his allegation by recording phone calls between the two. However, investigators were unable to ever get the two on a call together.
Eldridge told the Statesman that the outcry came after the teen had a “temper tantrum” at her house that focused on his use of a computer in her home. The teen also told police that she threatened to report him for drinking alcohol in violation of the program’s rules.
“I was telling him what to do, and he didn’t want me telling him what to do,” Eldridge said.
During the next few weeks, Hardin will likely interview the accuser and Eldridge and will decide whether to present the case to a Travis County grand jury.
If criminal charges are filed against Eldridge, state law says a sitting judge under indictment can be suspended without pay by a regional administrative judge until the matter is resolved.
Hardin heads a Houston law firm and has represented high-profile clients through the years, including Roger Clemens, who was accused of perjuring himself before Congress but was acquitted on all charges.