After years of odd, troubling, and threatening behavior by an Oklahoma stripper, she claimed that a Texas State Senator was stalking her, even though he had not been in Oklahoma during the relevant period. On Tuesday, the judge assigned to the case dismissed her request for a protective order, but that happened after several days of media speculation by a press all-too-willing to believe salacious accusations against a conservative Republican.
According to a report by The Oklahoman, Cynthia Lynn Ortiz, a stripper at an all-nude club in Inola, Oklahoma, filed a handwritten request for a protective order against Texas State Senator Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), asserting a series of fanciful claims that Perry had stalked her, hacked into her computer to control her email, broke into her apartment to install surveillance cameras to spy on her, recruited other men to stalk and harass her, and poisoned her vitamins, among other accusations.
Perry, who has been married to his wife for over 32 years with two children, adamantly denied the allegations. On Tuesday, Perry was vindicated when the judge dismissed the case, finding that there was “no basis” for Ortiz’s request.
In Ortiz’s request, she claimed that she met Perry in 2009 when she was living in Lubbock, at a Lubbock Area Republican Women’s lunch. Perry confirmed to Breitbart Texas that he had met her around that time, and that she was working as a political consultant then.
Ortiz moved to Denton, Texas a few years ago, where she reportedly began stripping, and then later to Oklahoma. Perry said that he believed she was still in the Dallas area and found out she was actually in Oklahoma when he was served with her request for a protective order. Perry reiterated that he had not been to Oklahoma during the relevant period and had not tried to contact her.
In fact, the situation is better described as the other way around: that Ortiz was the one harassing Perry. He told Breitbart Texas that Ortiz had been bothering and chasing him for years, but he felt his options were limited because her conduct fortunately never escalated into violence and public officials have limited recourse against accusations like defamation and slander. “She’s not healthy, unstable at best” said Perry, “It’s sad. I hope she gets help.”
Perry had informed his wife of Ortiz’s behavior and had provided copies of communications from Ortiz to the Lubbock County District Attorney when she contacted him. According to KCBD-Lubbock, Lubbock County DA Matt Powell requested for the Texas Rangers to take over the investigation, because there were multiple jurisdictions involved and the DA’s office is not an investigative body.
As Perry wrote on his Facebook page on May 12:
Since taking office my family has dealt with a slew of false, malicious allegations by a single individual.The outlandish claims have ranged from stating that I have placed cameras in her house to hacking her computer. She has refused to provide evidence of any of this, even when pressed by a reporter earlier today.
I have appropriately reported and turned over evidence to local authorities as the situation has progressed during the last couple of years. We hope that this individual receives treatment and stops her harassment of my family.
In all-too-predictable development, the media jumped on the story, suspending disbelief in the outlandish accusations. Many made the effort to highlight to Perry’s staunchly conservative politics, gleefully insinuating that he was a hypocrite.
Quorum Report posted the news by noting in bold red print that Perry had once “likened what he called America’s ‘spiritual battle’ to the Holocaust.”
Salon went a step further, calling Perry an “anti-gay Republican” in the first paragraph and repeating the quote about the spiritual battle. The Salon article goes on to say, “Perry’s office has denied each of her claims and taken to attacking Ortiz’s character, in addition to requesting that a judge dismiss the protective order,” further insinuating that the Senator is the one with the outrageous behavior, daring to defend himself against fanciful allegations.
Just in case Salon‘s readers were not yet completely sure how they were supposed to think, the article ends with a slanted synopsis of some conservative legislation that Perry supported, trying to paint him as a hypocrite:
Since being sworn in in September, when he first declared that the U.S. government is perpetuating “laws that lead citizens away from God,” Perry has put his name on an anti-same-sex marriage bill on which the Texas legislature is expected to vote this week. The “The Preservation of Sovereignty and Marriage Act” would prevent Texas from issuing same-sex marriage licenses even in the face of legalized marriage equality across the country. The lawmaker has been an adamant proponent of “protecting” “traditional marriage,” despite allegedly frequenting strip clubs and attempting to kiss the employees.
Jordan Berry, a consultant for Perry, confirmed to Breitbart Texas that the judge assigned to the case had dismissed it entirely. “The most important thing” to note, said Berry, was that this “was a frivolous case, and Charles is back at work at the state capitol finishing out the [legislative] session.”
Follow Sarah Rumpf on Twitter @rumpfshaker.
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