Michigan Rep. Denies Sex-Abuse Charge

Rep. Dale Kildee, a Michigan Democrat, has released a letter denouncing allegations in a local news report that he sexually abused his second cousin 50 years ago. Kildee called the charges “completely false and shameful,” saying his second cousin accused him only after he recently refused him money and federal benefits. Kildee’s cousin Patrick was 12 at the time that he says the abuse happened; the news report included interviews with Patrick’s mother, stepfather, and sister. Kildee says Patrick and his family have “a long history of mental illness and multiple run-ins with the law,” and he released audiotapes that he says reveal Patrick’s wife plotting to blackmail him. Kildee is set to retire at the end of his term.