Texas ‘Anti-Grooming’ Republican Resigns After Grooming, Sleeping With 19-Year-Old Staffer

A Republican Texas state representative who crusaded against the not real concern about LGBTQ+ people’s grooming of kids resigned from office Monday after an investigation found that he himself groomed and plied a 19-year-old staffer on his team with alcohol and then had sex with her.

According to the Texas House Committee on General Investigating, Bryan Slaton, a 45-year-old straight, married state representative from Austin who is a former pastor, had sex with a young staffer at his apartment complex between March 31 and April 1. After consuming alcohol at Slaton’s apartment before the encounter, the 19-year-old aide reported feeling “really dizzy” and having “split vision,” according to the committee’s 16-page report.

A vote on the expulsion of Slaton from the Texas State House was scheduled for Tuesday in light of the report’s findings. Slaton, however, resigned on Monday, even without addressing the committee’s report in his letter to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. That vote, however, still took place and for the first time in a century, the Texas Hose expelled one of its members. The vote was unanamous.

“I look forward to spending more time with my young family and will continue to find ways to serve my community and all citizens across our great state,” Slaton wrote in his resignation letter ahead of the expulsion vote, accordingto USA Today.

The chairman of the investigations committee, Rep. Andrew Murr, said in a social media post on Monday that he planned to call up the resolution regardless of Slaton’s resignation.

“Though Representative Slaton has submitted his resignation from office, under Texas law he is considered to be an officer of this state until a successor is elected and takes the oath of office to represent Texas House District 2,” he posted to his Facebook page.

Except for the female staffer with whom he had sex, Slaton’s entire staff is male. The five male Slaton employees refused to meet with the investigator for an interview, even though they were told they must cooperate with an investigation according to Committee Rules.

The report outlines complaints by three women, two 19-year-olds and one 21-year-old. All of them worked or interned in the Texas legislature at the time of the incident.

The investigation found that Slaton allegedly tried to get the young woman to come over to his apartment several times during the course of one late night, eventually getting her to make a trip around midnight to visit him as he was complaining of not wanting to “drink by himself.”

After arriving at Slaton’s apartment with several friends who were acting as a buffer, he supplied the guests with alcohol, often refilling his staffer’s cup with what she described as very strong drinks.

Eventually, the friends insisted on leaving, but the staffer who had been drinking demanded to stay.

Later, after Slaton dropped her off at her home after 10 a.m. the following day, the aid went to a pharmacy to buy Plan B, commonly known as the morning-after pill, which prevents pregnancy when taken promptly after unprotected sex.

Within days of the incident, as rumors began spreading about the aide and Slaton, he allegedly presented her with fake emails that indicated if she remained quiet, nothing bad would happen.

The House committee report states that the representative has not publicly denounced his own conduct. Moreover, Slaton’s legal team argued that the sexual encounter occurred at home, not at work, so the allegations should be dismissed.

The Republican lawmaker has introduced and supported bills banning drag shows in the presence of minors. His proposed legislation, HB 4129, would “stop the sexualization of our kids” at erotic performances, according to a press release Slaton tweeted on March 8. The Texas government has a strong interest in protecting children from sexual exploitation, he wrote.

“This is not a partisan issue,” Slaton emphasized. “People on both sides of the aisle recognize and believe that children should not be sexually exploited.”

Republicans in Texas have pushed several bills targeting the LGBTQ+ community, including book bans for schools and libraries and a law prohibiting minors from receiving gender-affirming care.