It is being reported that Oregon Speaker of the House, Karen Minnis, was involved in a cover-up involving the attempted rape of a minor, then paying the victim $20k to keep her quiet.

Here is the information we know at this point:
The attempted rape involved a 17 year-old girl. According to information uncovered in an ongoing investigation, John and Karen Minnis paid off this 17 year-old girl who worked in their Hillsboro restaurant after John's brother Tuck consistently sexually harassed and abused her in the workplace (source). This $20k payoff to settle her civil claim stemmed from an incident in Tuck Minnis' apartment where he attempted to rape the victim.

Looks like Minnis will need all of the over $1 million dollars she has raised if she wants to attempt to keep her seat.

The following information is via TheMinnisFile.com:

Karen Minnis and her husband protected Tuck Minnis after he allegedly attempted to rape a 17-year-old girl -- an employee at their pizza restaurant in Hillsboro.

Karen Minnis and her husband -- a police officer -- chose not to believe the girl's allegations. There is no indication that they reported their teenage employee's charge to proper authorities.

Then, Karen Minnis and her husband paid $20,000 to try to make the case go away.

They kept the alleged attacker -- Karen Minnis' brother-in-law -- on their payroll for six more months. He was even living at their home when he was convicted later that year for public indecency and harassment.

From Loaded Orygun:

It does not appear that these allegations were reported to appropriate law enforcement officials as required by Oregon’s Child Abuse Reporting Law and hence were never properly investigated. Conversely, it appears that Little John’s Pizza Co., LLC and John Minnis paid money to secure the dismissal of a civil case that the Washington County Circuit Court and the Oregon Supreme Court found to involve only Tuck Minnis’ private sexual mistreatment of Andrea. These circumstances raise questions about the purpose of that payment, especially in combination with the violation of the mandatory reporting law.

Is this the final straw for East County voters? If representing the pharmaceutical companies, big oil, tobacco and alcohol instead of her constituents wasn't enough, maybe this will be. Let's hope so. It's time for change in East County.

Visit The Minnis File for more information including a myriad of legal documents that are public record. The paper trail is all there.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 27, 2006 at 2:00 PM. Want to discuss? Leave a comment below.