To Counter Franken Flap, Ohio Judge Brags Of His Own Escapades

COLUMBUS, OH – Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O'Neill – also a Democrat candidate for Ohio governor –has responded to an allegation of inappropriate behavior against Minnesota Sen. Al Franken by a Minnesota radio personality. Perhaps a bold campaign move or possibly political suicide, O'Neill didn't condemn Franken, but instead bragged about his own sexual escapades.

"As a candidate for Governor let me save my opponents some research time," wrote O'Neill in a Facebook post on Friday morning. "In the last fifty years I was sexually intimate with approximately 50 very attractive females. It ranged from a gorgeous blonde who was my first true love and we made passionate love in the hayloft of her parents barn and ended with a drop dead gorgeous red head from Cleveland."

O'Neill not only brags about his female conquests, he identified two of the women in the initial post, but later edited the post to delete the specific women's references. According to Cleveland.com, O'Neill initially wrote: "It ranged from a gorgeous personal secretary to Senator Bob Taft (Senior) who was my first true love and we made passionate love in the hayloft of her parents barn in Gallipolis and it ended with a drop dead gorgeous red head who was a senior advisor to Peter Lewis at Progressive Insurance in Cleveland."

Cleveland.com included an image that shows the original post.

O'Neill's post drew a quick response from his colleague on the state's high court, Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor, a Republican.

"I condemn in no uncertain terms Justice O’Neill’s Facebook post," O'Connor wrote. "No words can convey my shock. This gross disrespect for women shakes the public’s confidence in the integrity of the judiciary."

It also got a response from David Pepper, the chairman of the Democratic Party in Ohio, who called the post "terrible."

"We’re having a serious national conversation about rape culture and sexual harassment, and it’s crucial for men to take time to listen to women and consider their experiences and insights.also condemned the post," Pepper wrote.

"Justice O’Neill’s Facebook comments both dehumanize women and do nothing but trivialize this important conversation, which is actually about harassment and abuse, not encounters between consenting adults."

O'Neill, a Chagrin Falls native, was elected to the Ohio Supreme Court in 2012.

O'Neill wrote in the post that he sharing his story because of the "dogs of war calling for the head" of Franken.

Franken found himself the center of controversy on Thursday, when Leeann Tweeden, now a Los Angeles radio host, accused the former comedian of forcibly kissing and groping her during a 2006 USO tour. She released a photo showing the comedian turned senator posing in a joking manner with his hands on her chest as she naps wearing a flak vest aboard a military plane.

Here is O'Neill's Facebook post:

Image via the Ohio Supreme Court