Thursday, 4:30 PM
Patrick lashes out at media, accuses Healey for report of his sister's rape
(Globe Photo/Michael Dwyer)
Democrat Deval Patrick read a written statement in Cambridge today about the sexual assault of his sister.
By Andrew Ryan, Globe Correspondent
Democrat Deval Patrick lashed out today at the media and Republican Kerry Healey for a report detailing the 1993 sexual assault of Patrick’s sister by her own husband.
The Boston Herald reported today that Bernard Sigh was convicted in San Diego of raping his wife, who is Patrick's sister. Sigh pleaded guilty and served a short time in jail, and the couple has since reconciled and now live in Milton, Patrick said. The Herald wrote that Sigh was violating state law by not registering as a sex offender.
"By no rules of common decency should their private struggles become a public issue," Patrick said in a written statement that he read at a campaign appearance in Cambridge. "But this is the politics of Kerry Healey. It disgusts me. And it must be stopped."
Patrick's campaign did not say how he had linked the story to Healey. Senior advisor Doug Rubin said that the campaign would not comment today beyond Patrick’s statement. Healey's campaign accused Patrick of hurling baseless accusations.
"Today's story had nothing to do with the Healey campaign," said Tim O'Brien, Healey’s campaign manager.
"Deval Patrick is in a free fall in the polls," O'Brien said. "This is a wild accusation where he has no facts. Deval Patrick ought to be ashamed of himself for making this wild accusation he can't prove."
"My sister and her husband went through a difficult time, and through hard work and prayer, they repaired their relationship and their lives," Patrick said in his statement today. "Now they and their children -- who knew nothing of this -- have had their family history laid out on the pages of a newspaper. Why? For no other reason than that they had the bad luck to have a relative who is running for governor."
