WASHINGTON — Former Virginia Del. Joe Morrissey publicly confirmed that he’s the father of a child born to a woman prosecutors accused him of sleeping with when she was underage.
It’s the first time he’s confirmed that Myrna Pride’s child is his.
On WLEE News Talk 990’s The Jack Gravely Show in Richmond Wednesday, Morrissey also said he loves changing the child’s “poopy diapers,” because “Chase is my blood”.
Morrissey resigned from the General Assembly, then won a January special election to keep his seat after a plea deal related to charges that he slept with Pride while she was a minor working in his law office. He was later indicted on perjury charges tied to the plea deal that have since been dismissed.
Morrissey said on the show that Chase was the first person he kissed this morning.
“My baby… my son.”
He had shared a photo with a TV reporter in Richmond last week that showed him, Pride and the child dressed up in some kind of period garb.
I was just handed this photo of Joe Morrissey — by Joe Morrissey. #BreakTheInternet pic.twitter.com/5H89jyX5ZT
— Joe St. George (@JoeStGeorge) May 14, 2015
Morrissey would not say then whether he was the father.
But on the show Wednesday, Morrissey said “everybody knows that Chase is my boy.”
In fact, it had been a matter of intense speculation, especially since Morrissey had gone to be with Pride when she gave birth.
“I’ve been changing poopy diapers and giving him milk, and – I’m making it sound like it’s a chore – I love it, Chase is my blood,” Morrissey added.
“I don’t walk around on the street corners and say ‘hey, Chase is mine,’” Morrissey said on the show.
But he points out that he walked down Monument Avenue in Richmond on Easter Sunday with Pride and their son.
Morrissey says the two “most precious things” in the world to him are his two young children. His other young child, Kennedy, is 2-and-a-half years old.
Morrissey responded to an accusation that he “laid down with a black woman and … walked away,” by saying that he is as engaged in his son’s life as a man can be.
Morrissey commuted to the House floor from jail during this year’s session, but he could still face more charges related to documents filed as part of his plea deal.
