ST. PAUL— A Minnesota state senator Friday, Nov. 1, said he’s the victim of revenge porn.
Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, said that when he tried to break up with a man with whom he had an intimate virtual relationship, the man subjected Dibble to “coercion and harassment.” On Friday, the man took it up a notch by sending photos, videos and text messages to a number of Senate colleagues.
Dibble, who remains married to his husband of a number of years, issued the following statement:
“For the past five months I have been the victim of coercion and harassment from a former friend. This friend has no connection to my professional life, yet the person chose to involve the Minnesota Senate this morning when he engaged in an act of revenge porn.
“I was involved in a brief intimate and consensual relationship with this person. When I attempted to end the relationship, I was threatened with embarrassment as this individual attempted to coerce me into continuing the relationship. My resistance to his threats was met this morning with a communication that was sent to my colleagues with what had been private photos, videos, and text messages. What was a private matter is now public and I ask for your sensitivity and consideration.
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“This has been one of the hardest days of both my personal and professional lives. I am thankful for the outpouring of support I have received from my family, friends, and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
“I understand there will be questions about this very personal matter, but I would like to deal with this as privately as possible.”
Earlier in the day, Dibble had emailed Senate colleagues about the situation after the man had emailed them.
“You may have received an email purporting to be a complaint of unethical behavior,” Dibble’s email read, in part. “That is not the case.”
Ellen Anderson, a spokeswoman for the Senate DFL caucus, said the matter doesn’t merit an ethics investigation. “This had nothing to do with Senator Dibble’s work at the Legislature,” she said.
A spokeswoman for the Senate Republican caucus, which holds the majority in the chamber, declined to comment on the matter Friday.
Dibble told Minnesota Public Radio he met the man once but that the relationship was never physical. He said he has no plans to ask authorities to attempt to prosecute the man under Minnesota’s revenge porn law because he lives in another country.
