Tiahrt Staffer in JoCo resigns after Sex Scandal

The field coordinator for the Todd Tiahrt’s US Senate campaign in Johnson County resigned abruptly Wednesday, after KMBC 9 News confronted him about the aggravated sodomy and aggravated sexual assault charges he’s facing.

Jase D. Stanton  was accused of the sex charges this summer. The incident took place in July of 2008.  Authorities say victims have two years to file charges in such a case.

According to the police report, the victim is only described as a “sexual assault victim”.

Court records show Stanton pled not guilty. But the same documents also show that Stanton has a plea hearing scheduled for December 9. His attorney, a public defender, would not comment on the case.

Stanton says he did not tell the Tiahrt campaign about his legal problems.

Stanton refused to comment about his case. But in a short discussion with me he often sighed and  seemed on the verge of trembling.  At one point he  just stated, “I guess this is going to cost me my job.”

Wednesday afternoon, the Tiahrt campaign issued a statement saying they did not know about any allegations or charges  until Wednesday. The campaign says it has accepted Stanton’s resignation.

It appears  Stanton joined the Tiahrt campaign as a field coordinator  this fall. He was working out an office rented by the campaign at the Johnson County Republican Party office on Metcalf.

Prior to taking the job with the Tiahrt campaign, several people said Stanton was active in local GOP politics as a volunteer. Ironically, he also worked as a volunteer  for the Steve Howe campaign for District Attorney last year. It is Howe’s office that is now handling the prosecution of Stanton.

It’s not known what kind of setback, if any, the loss of a field coordinator in Johnson County will have on the  Tiahrt Senate campaign.

Tiahrt is from Wichita. He is facing Western Kansas Congressman Jerry Moran for the GOP Kansas US Senate nomination. The current senator, Sam Brownback, is retiring from the senate. He is a heavy favorite to win the Governor’s mansion next year for the Republicans.

Both the Tiahrt and Moran campaigns are competing  hard for support in vote-rich Johnson County.