Candace Faber, 35, of Seattle, Washington, revealed in a tweet that Republican state Sen. Joe Fain was the man who allegedly sexually assaulted her in 2007
A woman has accused a Washington state lawmaker of raping her 11 years ago, saying she was inspired to speak out following the televised allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
In a tweet Thursday afternoon, Candace Faber, 35, of Seattle, Washington, said Republican state Sen. Joe Fain sexually assaulted her in 2007.
Faber’s revelation followed a morning and afternoon spent tweeting out commentary on Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s Senate testimony as it was broadcast live.
‘Is anyone else just fed up and ready to name names? Because I am!’ Faber tweeted about 20 minutes after the hearings.
‘If it’s bad that Blasey Ford waited to raise this until Kavanaugh got to the highest levels of government, then maybe the rest of us shouldn’t sit on our secrets just crossing our fingers that they won’t come into more power.
‘So okay, let’s do it,’ she continued. ‘@senatorfain, you raped me the night I graduated from Georgetown in 2007. Then you had the audacity to ask me to support your campaign. I’ve been terrified of running into you since moving home and seeing your name everywhere. I’m done being silent.’
In a statement posted on Medium later on Thursday, in which she again named Fain, Faber wrote, ‘Until recently, I withheld my rapist’s name, even in private conversations. I hoped that I could help change the culture of sexual assault without needing to say his name. I no longer believe that to be the case. We cannot heal without accountability.
‘Like Dr. Ford, I can no longer remain silent knowing that the man who raped me is in a position to influence the laws that govern my state and impact every woman who lives here. I do not believe that survivors have a civic duty to speak out. I believe that we have a civic duty to believe survivors.’
According to the Seattle Times, Faber had previously mentioned an occasion in which she met a man ‘at the Capitol,’ then spent the night on the town with him. She later wrote that she helped the then-drunk man back to his hotel room, at which point he supposedly yanked down her dress ‘so hard the straps tore.’
Faber identified Fain in a tweet posted Thursday, following Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s Senate testimony about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh
Fain, 37 (in 2017), a Republican state senator, has denied Faber’s claim and called for an investigation which he said he could cooperate with
In June, Faber wrote a lengthy post on Medium in which she detailed meeting and being raped by a man she met ‘at the Capitol’ shortly after graduating from Georgetown University in 2007
Faber then detailed pushing him away at one point and telling him to stop, which seemed to turn him on, so she stopped resisting, at which point the man raped her. Afterwards, she wrote she contemplated whether she should shower off the evidence or go to the hospital.
Fain, 37, of Auburn, Washington, said he ‘absolutely’ denies Faber’s alleged rape claim and called for an investigation.
In a text message to the Seattle Times, sent after Faber’s tweets named him as her alleged rapist, Fain wrote, ‘I absolutely deny what Ms. Faber is accusing me of.’
He also wrote that ‘Any allegation of this serious nature deserves to be heard and investigated for all parties involved’ and stated that he both invited and would cooperate with any investigation into her claims.
On Thursday, Ford told a Senate committee that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were in high school. Kavanaugh denied the accusation.
The Associated Press does not typically name alleged victims of sexual assault, but Faber chose to identify herself.
Faber has worked in the city of Seattle’s information technology department.
Fain was elected to the Senate in 2010 and is up for reelection in November against Democratic opponent Mona Das.