RUTHFULLY YOURS

In June of 2014, the Washington Free Beacon came upon an audiotape of then first lady of Arkansas Hillary Clinton from the 1980’s discussing with journalist Roy Reed a legal case she had been involved with in 1975. She had been the defense attorney for Thomas Alfred Taylor, who at age 41 had been accused of raping a 12 year-old girl in May of that year.

On the audio, Hillary, in an affected southern drawl, could be heard laughing at several inappropriate times. “He took a lie detector test,” she said. “I had him take a polygraph, which he passed, which forever destroyed my faith in polygraphs (laughs).” Then Hillary spoke about a section of Taylor’s underwear that was now missing where authorities had done a DNA match from what was found on the 12-year old while in the hospital. Hillary told Reed that she had flown to Brooklyn to receive an expert legal opinion in the case, and later told Washington County (Arkansas) Prosecutor Mahlon Gibson that “this guy’s ready to come from New York to prevent a miscarriage of justice (laughs).”

The tape concluded with Reed asking Hillary how the case turned out. “Oh, he plea bargained! Got him off for time served in the county jail, he’d been in the county jail about two months.”

The Free Beacon also found legal filings from the case, where Hillary had made accusations about the rape victim. In July, Hillary had asked for a psychiatric examination of the 12-year old and then filed an affidavit, essentially tarnishing the victim, saying that she was “emotionally unstable.” Hillary also added that she “had a tendency to seek out older men to engage in fantasizing.”

Her attacks in the affidavit continued. “I have been informed that she has in the past made false accusations about persons, claiming that they had attacked her body.” Hillary added that children from broken homes are “prone to such behavior.”

Taylor was initially indicted for rape, where he could have received a life sentence, but Hillary was successful at “pleading down” the case to illegal fondling of a minor. Taylor was sentenced to five years in prison, with four years suspended. He was to serve 12 months in the Washington County jail in Fayetteville, with two months suspended for the time he had already served. But the outcome would end up being something far shorter.

After the tape was made public two years ago, the Free Beacon tracked the victim down, but she refused to speak to the reporter, Alana Goodman. Daily Beast reporter Josh Rogin contacted her next, and he wrote an article about her terrifying experience. She also made an audio recording, and her name and image were deliberately not included. After hearing the tape, the victim, now in her 50’s, said about Hillary, “You lied on me…I realize the truth now, the heart of what you’ve done to me. And you’re supposed to be for women?”

Every cable network picked up the story and many major websites also did at the time. Hillary finally addressed the issue saying that “in our system you have an obligation, and once I was appointed I fulfilled that obligation.” Nothing more was reported until May of this year, when Rogin told CNN, “T here’s never been any evidence presented by anyone to substantiate the allegations that Hillary Clinton made in that affidavit.”

At the Philadelphia Democratic Convention last July, after her official nomination for president and amid a breaking glass ceiling, Hillary said that “if there are any little girls out there who stayed up late to watch, let me just say: I may become the first woman president, but one of you is next.” Less than two weeks later on August 9, the 12-year old rape victim, Kathy Shelton, now 54, finally went public from her home in Springdale, Arkansas. She told Goodman, now of The (London) Daily Mail, that “if I were to meet her in person, it would be very hard for me not to walk up and smack her.” Kathy added that, “I want to speak out to the world…where everybody can hear me.”

Her story was now ignored by the mainstream media, including CNN and the Washington Post, but others like The Daily Mail and Fox News reported on the startling turn of events.

A closer look reveals that the tragic case surrounding Kathy Shelton began on a warm spring evening on May 10, 1975. It was a month before her 13th birthday and she would soon be graduating from the sixth grade. Two men who lived in the neighborhood, Taylor and his 20-year old cousin Michael Huddleston dropped in on Kathy, who was having a sleepover at a friend’s house and invited her out for a Coke. The three got into Taylor’s beat-up red 1963 Chevy pickup truck.

Along the way, they picked up 15-year old Michael Elzey. The group then stopped and Taylor purchased some whiskey, which he poured into Kathy’s cup of Coke. They then spent some time at a local bowling alley, and after leaving, Taylor pulled off the highway into a weed-covered ravine between Springdale and nearby Fayetteville. Taylor and Huddleston went out for a walk, leaving Elzey and Kathy alone in the cab, when Elzey removed his pants and proceeded to have sex with Kathy.

Taylor and Huddleston then returned and Elzey left the truck. Taylor climbed on top of Kathy and forced himself upon her, and Kathy resisted, screaming while Taylor beat and savaged her. When Taylor was done, Kathy turned to them and yelled, “You all planned this, didn’t you?” They warned her not to say anything, or they would “catch me out later.

About 5 a.m., a beaten and bloodied Kathy showed up at a local emergency room, where the doctor reported she had “injuries consistent with rape.” It was Kathy’s first sexual experience and because of the vaginal damage that was done she would never be able to have children.

Three days later, Taylor was charged with rape in the first degree and had “unlawfully, willfully, and feloniously engage in sexual intercourse” with the 12-year old Kathy “by forcible compulsion and without her consent.” If convicted, Taylor would receive a sentence of 30 years to life in prison.

Taylor was assigned a public defender, John Barry Baker, but Taylor reportedly wanted a female to represent him. Hillary Diane Rodham was in charge of the Law Clinic located at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. A year earlier, she and her future husband Bill had returned to Arkansas from Washington, D.C. Hillary had been a staff member of the House Judiciary Committee during Richard Nixon’s impeachment and  reportedly was fired for unethical behavior. Bill lost his first election in an attempt to become a member of the U.S. House from Arkansas. They both began teaching law at the University.

During Bill’s first campaign in 1974, he met Judge Maupin Cummings, who would eventually oversee Kathy’s rape trial. He told his son Gordon Cummings to keep an eye on Bill who was striving for a political career. The younger Cummings would end up being one of Clinton’s first campaign donors, and become a longtime friend.

When Taylor reportedly requested a female to represent him, Judge Cummings told prosecutor Mahlon Gibson (both men were staunch Democrats) to ask Hillary to represent the accused rapist, and replace public defender Baker. However, Baker recalls that Taylor never requested a female defender, and that Judge Cummings called him and said they were replacing him with the “woman from the student law clinic,” and Hillary happened to be the only licensed attorney there.  Even though Hillary has said she tried to be relieved from the case, Baker also recalled that she was very focused on winning, and once Hillary began investigating the case there are no reports she had any regret in defending Taylor.

After filing the affidavit in July that tarnished Kathy’s character, Hillary then pressed for a plea deal after the key section of Taylor’s underwear was lost. On November 4, Taylor pled guilty to Unlawful Fondling of a Child under the Age of Fourteen. As mentioned earlier, Taylor was sentenced to five years in the State Penitentiary, with four years suspended and one year to be served in the County Jail with two months off for time served.

However, just as Hillary had said at the end of the audio with Roy Reed, two months was all that Taylor served. He never spent another day in jail, but was put on probation, which was completed in 1980. Recently, then Washington County Sheriff Herbert Marshall said that he was “majorly pissed” when he was ordered to release Taylor. He noted that a case as grievous as Taylor’s was rare and that he was “extremely pissed” that Taylor only served two months. Also, Taylor was not on a work release program, which defenders of Hillary have suggested might have happened. Marshall said that he could not even remember anyone being on work release at that time, and he would definitely have noticed if Taylor had been.

During the recent second presidential debate in St. Louis on October 9th, Donald Trump invited Kathy along with three women who have alleged harassment, assault and rape against Hillary’s husband Bill over the years, and had added that Hillary had intimidated them and tried to destroy their credibility. Jennifer Palmieri, a spokeswoman for Hillary’s presidential campaign called the effort a “stunt” as did many in the mainstream press.

More recently, Hillary said during a campaign speech that “dignity and respect for women and girls is also on the ballot in this election.” Mrs. Clinton has never offered an apology to Kathy Shelton. One might ask when she will receive the dignity and respect she deserves.