Young Republican Pleads Guilty to Sexual Assault Charge

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Michael Flory

This post, written by Gavin McNett, originally appeared on Sadly, No!

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Michigan Young Republican pleads guilty in sex case

The former head of the Michigan Federation of Young Republicans admitted today that he sexually abused a colleague during a national convention here last summer.

Michael Flory, a 32-year-old attorney from Jackson, Mich., pleaded guilty to sexual battery on the day he was to stand trial for rape.

The plea bargain, [the prosecutor] said, doesn't include any suggestion of leniency, and the state will seek incarceration. She also said she hopes to present evidence of several "other incidents of sexual misconduct" in which Flory took advantage of vulnerable young women.

"Oh whew," Republicans are saying, "I thought it was another closeted-gay sex crime. People might've started to think there was something psychologically wrong with us."

The victim, who is 22, declined to speak after Flory's guilty plea.

She and some supporters lamented when the incident became public last winter that Flory and his followers within the Republican organization had been smearing her reputation in retaliation for accusing Flory of rape. [Prosecutor] Skutnik said she found that to be true.

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"People were using every opportunity to try to trash her, on Web sites or whatever," the prosecutor said. "He's been running around telling everybody what a piece of trash she is, so she was very happy to see him plead guilty."