Former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield denied claims that he sexually abused his sister-in-law in a Friday statement, but acknowledged he had multiple affairs while he was married including with the 27-year-old woman accusing him of sexual abuse.
The statement by Mary Chartier, Chatfield's lawyer, said the affair with the woman accusing the 33-year-old Levering Republican lasted years, "but they were both consenting adults."
"Mr. Chatfield deeply regrets the decisions he has made," Chartier wrote. "It has caused great pain to his wife and family, and they are working through this together. But he did not assault this woman in any manner during their years-long adult relationship. He intends to vigorously fight these false claims."
The 27-year-old woman filed a complaint with the Lansing Police Department in December 2020 alleging she'd been assaulted by the former House speaker from the time she was about 15 and into 2021.
Lansing Police Department still is investigating the claims within its jurisdiction and a Michigan State Police post in Northern Michigan is also working on the investigation, the agencies said Thursday.
The investigation focuses on allegations that Chatfield sexually abused the woman for about 12 years, starting when she was a teenager and attending Chatfield's church, Northern Michigan Baptist Bible Church, said Jamie White, the woman's lawyer. The alleged abuse continued while she attended the school associated with the church and ended in 2021....
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