Anti-Gay Ohio Rep. Sought Men For Sex; Targeted Young Men: Report

An Ohio lawmaker, who pushed anti-LGBT policies, propositioned several men for sexual encounters through Craigslist and is accused of engaging in predatory behavior towards young men, according to a report in Cleveland.com. Goodman has since resigned from the Ohio House of Representatives after he acknowledged engaging in "inappropriate behavior" with a man in his office.

Two men who spoke to Cleveland.com said they came forward to describe their experiences with Goodman because they were disappointed in the policies he was pushing in Washington. Johnny Hadlock, who worked for a GOP congressman, met Goodman when he was working for conservative U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan in 2010.

The two exchanged messages after Hadlock confided in Goodman that he was gay. He said the relationship was consensual and he last spoke with Goodman in 2014 through Facebook and Goodman was the one to initiate conversation. A second former GOP congressional staffer, Chris Donnelly, told the paper Goodman replied to a Craigslist listing for men seeking men and the two had a sexual encounter in 2008.

Donnelly told Cleveland.com that Goodman was "all over Craigslist" responding to ads posted by gay men.

"It became a running joke between me and my gay friends on Capitol Hill," Donnelly said. "It's not like it was some one-off thing."

Donnelly said he told Ohio Republicans of Goodman's behavior. He also told Cleveland.com that the last time he saw Goodman was in 2009 when he was pushing Jordan's Defense of Marriage Act that would overturn the city's decision to recognize same-sex marriages from other states.

Goodman is also accused of engaging in predatory behavior towards younger men after he left Jordan's office. A conservative operative who spoke to Cleveland.com said he would target college kids who wanted to have him as a mentor. In one account published in The Washington Post, Goodman allegedly unzipped an 18-year-old college student's pants and fondled him in the middle of the night. The teenaged boy was attending an event to raise funds for Goodman at a Ritz-Carlton hotel near Washington in 2015. The report in the Post reveals that Tony Perkins, the president of conservative group Family Research Council knew of Goodman's behavior with the teenager.

On Monday, The Independent Journal Review published an account after speaking with over 30 people regarding Goodman's behavior. According to The IJR, Goodman propositioned college students with questions about their career aspirations before he would escalate the conversation and eventually start sending suggestive messages. Screenshots of messages published by The IJR show Goodman sent several explicit sexual messages.

Goodman, 33, is married and was elected to the Ohio legislature in 2016.

In a Q and A with The Morrow County Sentinel in March 2016, Goodman said he has "the most proven and the most consistently conservative record in this race." He touted the support of conservative groups like Ohio Right to Life, Ohio Pro-Life Action, Citizens for Community Values Action PAC, Ohio Family First PAC and the support of his former boss, Congressman Jim Jordan.

“We all bring our own struggles and our own trials into public life,” Goodman said in a statement. “That has been true for me, and I sincerely regret that my actions and choices have kept me from serving my constituents and our state in a way that reflects the best ideals of public service. For those whom I have let down, I’m sorry.”

Image via Ohio House GOP Caucus