Second woman accuses Virginia official of assault
A Maryland woman says she was raped by Justin Fairfax in 2000. She is the second woman this week to accuse the Virginia lieutenant governor of sexual assault.
WASHINGTON — A Maryland woman said Friday that she was raped by Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax in a “premeditated and aggressive” assault in 2000, while they were students at Duke University. She is the second woman this week to make an accusation of sexual assault against the state’s second-in-command.
Meredith Watson said Friday in a statement through her attorney that she shared her account immediately after it happened with several classmates and friends. Watson did not speak publicly Friday, and her lawyer did not make her available for an interview.
Fairfax denied the allegations forcefully. “I deny this latest unsubstantiated allegation,” he said in a statement. “It is demonstrably false. I have never forced myself on anyone ever.”
The accusation comes at the end of an unprecedented week in Virginia that has seen the state’s three top Democrats in potentially career-ending scandals.
Gov. Ralph Northam has refused to resign over a racist photo in his medical school yearbook. He apologized but denied he was in the photo. And the state’s attorney general has admitted to wearing blackface when he was a college student in the 1980s.
Watson’s claim comes after a different woman, Vanessa Tyson, accused Fairfax of sexually assaulting her when they were in Boston for the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
Watson was friends with Fairfax at Duke but they never dated or had any romantic relationship, said her lawyer, Nancy Erika Smith.
“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,” Smith said in the statement. “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 wants Fairfax to resign, Smith said.
Fairfax said he would not: “I demand a full investigation into these unsubstantiated and false allegations.”