Ohio justice defiant on sex-claim post

CLEVELAND — An Ohio Supreme Court justice and Democratic gubernatorial candidate said Saturday that he doesn’t regret Facebook activity a day earlier in which he outlined his sexual history with women, then deleted that post and said in a second that people should “lighten up.”

William O’Neill’s original post, especially, drew widespread criticism for trivializing sexual harassment and sexual assault. That post criticized “the dogs of war” who were calling for Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., to resign after being accused of groping a woman during a USO tour in 2006.

O’Neill wrote that he had been “sexually intimate with approximately 50 very attractive females” during his life and mentioned several encounters, including one in a hayloft of her parents’ barn.

Critics from both parties were swift to condemn the 70-year-old O’Neill, including Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, a Republican. Some called for his immediate ouster from the court.

In the Saturday interview, O’Neill said he deleted his first post after an online commenter called him insensitive for including information that could identify some of the women.

“I agreed with them and took it down,” O’Neill said. “I’m a gentleman after all.”

O’Neill said during Saturday’s interview that his message was misunderstood and that his civil-rights history shows he’s not an “insensitive misogynist.”

He also apologized if his post has offended anyone.