“He destroyed me, and has controlled my life since I was 15-16, the past 10-11 years,” Rebekah Chatfield said.
Rebekah Chatfield, the sister-in-law of former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield, has accused the powerful young Republican of repeatedly sexually assaulting her over the course of a decade.
She told police the encounters began while she was attending Northern Michigan Christian Academy in Cheboygan County, where Chatfield taught, and continued until 2021. Rebekah Chatfield, now 26, claims the former lawmaker—a 33-year-old married father of five—even assaulted her in his Capitol office.
“He destroyed me, and has controlled my life since I was 15-16, the past 10-11 years,” she told Bridge Michigan. “And I know the only way to get justice for this is to come forward and to file a criminal (complaint) against him.”
Aaron Chatfield, Lee’s brother and Rebekah’s husband, has come out in support of his wife and questioned Lee’s supposed family values.
“Lee portrays himself as a family tradition, conservative guy who believes in the Bible and the Bible is so important,” Aaron Chatfield told Bridge. “No, it couldn’t be further from who my man was as a person.”
In a statement, Lee Chatfield’s attorney insisted that the interactions between his client and Rebekah were consensual and only occurred when they were both adults.
Rebekah Chatfield said she documented her allegations in a criminal complaint filed last month with police in Lansing, where she lives. Michigan State Police and Lansing Police are now investigating.
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