BOISE, Idaho. (AP) — An arrest warrant has been issued for a former Idaho lawmaker who resigned in disgrace after a 19-year-old intern reported that he brought her to his apartment on false pretenses and raped her.
The Ada County arrest warrant on charges of rape and sexual penetration with a foreign object comes nearly five months after Aaron von Ehlinger, a Republican from Lewiston, resigned from the Idaho House of Representatives after an ethics committee found he should be formally censured for his behavior.
The investigation into von Ehlinger began in March after the young staffer reported he raped her after the two had dinner at a Boise restaurant. Von Ehlinger has denied all wrongdoing and maintains he had consensual sexual contact with the young woman.
A legislative ethics committee unanimously found that he engaged in “behavior unbecoming,” and said they would support a vote to remove him from the Statehouse.
The woman informed Legislative leadership and the police about the rape allegations on her first day at work after the incident. She also testified before the legislative ethics committee, despite facing harassment from von Ehlinger’s supporters and some fellow lawmakers.
Attempts to contact von Ehlinger for comment were not immediately successful.
Earlier this month attorney Erika Birch filed a tort claim with the state on the woman’s behalf, which is the first step in filing a lawsuit, according to a story by the local public television program Idaho Reports.
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