Read: Accused Rapist Yahya Yuksel Must Drop Out Now from CD2 Race
A Pima County Sheriff’s report has surfaced, stating that CD2 Democratic Congressional Candidate Yahya Yuksel was accused of rape by a 16- or 17-year-old girl when he was 17 and both were in high school in 2007.
The report also quotes a witness who refutes the girl’s claim.
Yuksel denied the “false allegation,” in a legal motion, stating, “The investigating officer found no reason to pursue the allegation after speaking with the accuser. For the record, I did not know of the existence of this allegation until recently,” he stated.
“Such a criminal allegation of moral turpitude is utterly disastrous to my reputation, especially for someone like me who is considering running for elected political office,” he stated.
When reached by phone yesterday, Yuksel said he would be issuing a statement.
The 2008 report
In the sheriff’s report dated March 13, 2008, the teenage girl said she and Yuksel were drinking Sky vodka and cola at a friend’s house. The report blacks out her name. She told the officer that Yuksel began kissing her and she tried to push him off, “telling him that she did not want to.” She stated that Yuksel began “feeling me up.” “He then pulled off her shorts and swimsuit bottoms, put on a condom and had intercourse with her. She stated ‘no’ the whole time and tried to push him off. During intercourse, she cried a little bit and then blacked out,” the report states.
She told her parents on February 19, 2008, that she had been raped and they filed no complaint. “When she told her mother that she had been raped, her mother talked to her about drinking and knowing that she [the girl] had been experimenting with alcohol. She talked to her about drinking at strange residences with people she did not know. This is what could happen,” the report states.
On March 3, 2008, she told a school counselor that she had been raped, and the counselor called 911. “She did not want anything done,” the report states. “She was just talking to a counselor about it and did not want to press any charges or be a victim. She did not want anything to happen.”
Outrage and shock
Yuksel is now 28. The report was sealed until after Yuksel filed a petition for “Clearance of Criminal Record” in Arizona Superior Court on March 7, 2018. The legal motion was denied by Judge Danelle Liwski on March 27, 2018, because there was no arrest, indictment or other charge filed against him so there were no grounds to find the accusation or investigation wrongful.
Yuksel launched his campaign for Congress in Tucson in March. In another development, court records surfaced yesterday, showing Yuksel pleaded guilty to a DUI on February 27, 2014.
Outrage, shock and calls for Yuksel to drop out of the race exploded on the McSally – Take a Stand! Facebook page, where photos of the sheriff’s report were released yesterday. Arizona Daily Star reporter Joe Ferguson is credited with uncovering the story.
“Yahya has the audacity to ask us if he can represent our community in the United States Congress while simultaneously suppressing a young woman’s #MeToo story for his own personal gain,” wrote Veronica Nicole of Tucson.
Click to see the photos of the documents: PDF with legal motion, sheriffs report and court ruling
Campaign for Congress
Yuksel is the youngest person running among a field of 7 Democrats seeking the CD2 Congressional seat. He is the subject of articles on the Blog for Arizona including CD2 Congress Candidate Yahya Yuksel Accelerating a Come-from-behind Campaign.
There is a CD2 candidate forum on Thursday, July 19 from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm at Tucson High Magnet School at 400 N 2nd Ave. If Yuksel attends, he will face questions about the rape allegation.
“It is very important to note, that at the time of the allegation, no Investigating Officer of the Law attempted to make contact with me or pursue criminal charges once they conducted the standard practice of a preliminary interview with the person claiming sexual misconduct. Had there been even a slight possibility of misconduct occurring, surely the investigating officer would have contacted me,” Yuksel stated in his legal motion.
“I have not been provided my constitutional right to defend myself against this allegation and face my accuser in court. I have no legal remedy. While all police reports are recorded no matter how baseless, the classification of ‘sexual misconduct’ is by itself a damage to my reputation.”
Witness refutes rape allegation
The three-page 2008 sheriff’s report includes a witness who was just outside the bedroom door and who refutes the girl’s accusation. In November 2007, she was visiting the house of her friend from high school, Anthony Benito Matias of Tucson, when his friend Yahya Yuksel came over. “She began pouring Sky Vodka and cola for herself. Yahya had approximately one cup and one-half of Sky Vodka and Cola. [The girl] had approximately six to seven cups of Sky Vodka and cola and began getting very, very intoxicated and light-headed,” the report states.
Anthony told the officer that she was “all over” his friend Yahya. She then asked to use the bathroom and “[she] wanted Yahya to help her.
“Anthony stated he then turned on the TV, keeping it very low to make sure that everything was fine. He could hear them in the next room over having sex.” He told the officer that never once did he hear her tell Yuksel ‘no.’ At one point she stated that the lights were on and asked if he could turn them off for them.
When Anthony went to check on her later, “she still had her swimsuit bottoms and shorts off and he handed them to her. “When she started to come to, she got very sick and began saying that Yahya had raped her when she did not want that. He told her that was not what he heard. He heard her having sex or intercourse and as far as he was concerned, it was voluntary. He did not hear any signs of distress. If he would have, he would have come in and stopped Yahya,” the report states.
“She began getting sick and Anthony gave her a bag to throw up in. He then helped her get home” to her address on Ina Road.
The investigating officer gave her a victim’s rights packet with his name, badge number, the case reference, and the sheriff’s department phone number. “She advised that since she did not want to be a victim and did not want anything to happen to Yahya Yuksel, the mother had already been advised, and they were both 17 years old, to go ahead and document the report as she had requested and not go any further.”
I am in shock how people are jumping on this story and asking Yahya to dropout. Teenagers drink and have sex all the time nothing new about it. If there had been one iota of evidence of a RAPE being commited he would have been prosecuted. this just seems like 2 teenage kids drank and had sex. Common.. A witness was there and said nothing happened. Obviously this woman is now an adult. in this day and age with the me too movement if he really did this I believe she would be out there right now sharing her story if it was a rape. For Kovacs or any other politician to say he needs to step down because of an allegation{no proof} is just plain wrong. I have witnessed Yahya speak and he truly cares for the people of Pima County. At the forums when he s spoken people love him. He is articulate, has new ideas and has motivated many young people to be involved in politics. He has my vote! Shame on Kovacs and Kirkpatrick for jumping on this witch hunt!
At the very least it was incredibly bad judgement. There’s a lot of whining men asking “well how are we supposed to act now?”. I say it’s easy. Be a gentleman. That certainly didn’t happen here either.
Well, well, well. Mr. Kovacs couldn’t wait to jump on the bandwagon (I almost wrote “join the lynch mob”).
Billy Kovacs
Verified account @kovacs4congress
Yesterday it was brought to light that @yahyayuksel allegedly sexually assaulted a teenage girl while in HS. http://bit.ly/2NhjCwu We must hold members of our party, of this country, and male species to a standard of human decency. We must do better. #MeToo #BelieveWomen #AZ02
12:13 PM – 14 Jul 2018 from Tucson, AZ
Well, so far none of the other CD2 candidates appear to have joined the mob.
“Outrage, shock and calls for Yuksel to drop out of the race exploded on the McSally – Take a Stand! Facebook page…”
You can’t see the comments unless you’re a member of the group. And right now there are only 1,149 members compared to a population 0f 716,731 in AZ CD2.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona%27s_2nd_congressional_district
Wow. Just saw this. Billy Kovacs wrote an epistle on Facebook about these allegations.
https://www.facebook.com/kovacsforcongress/posts/663380144020210
Billy says:
“Reputation is built through mutual respect given to and from others, and the acknowledgment that one’s individual liberties and rights are to be protected both by our own government and by each other as we interact in society. I will not wait to pass judgment due to the fact that this individual has known about these allegations (for a decade), the release of information by the press, and the contents of the information that lies within. I make this statement not to throw stones in a glass house because I myself am not perfect and have myself made mistakes that have called my character into question in my brief time on this planet. I do however find it easy to hold a member of my party, a member of this country, and male species to the bare minimum of human decency. We must do better. #MeToo #BelieveWomen #AZ02 #CD2”
Well, Mr. Kovacs, if you’re reading these comments on BfA, you have just proved to me that you’re not ready to be a legislator. Thanks for helping me decide.
Why because I stood up for something? If you like your legislators void of a backbone, then by all means please vote for someone else. I’m fine with my decision to come out in front of this issue, and since then 4 other candidates echo my thought and reaction, DGT is taking action, and Pima Dems might as well. I stand by my position. Here’s some food for thought though…calling women who have been victims of sexual assault, rape, and domestic violence as “The Mob” is a very classless statement and is a thoughtless attempt to undermine their experiences and reaction to this information. If you’ve been a victim of sexual assault and you read that report, you’re immediately transported back to your own trama. I know I was, and countless others I talked to.
And then there’s “Veronica Nicole” who is quoted in this post by Mr Bodine. Here’s what she posted on Facebook two hours ago, apparently objecting to a Youtube video posted by Mr. Yuksel on “women’s rights.”
Veronica Nicole
2 hrs ·
Yahya Yuksel you have some fucking nerve to post this video the SAME DAY it was revealed that you tried to cover up a rape allegation against you to advance your campaign standing.
If you don’t announce your withdrawal from the race tomorrow I vow to double down twice as hard about this until you understand that “women’s rights” are more than a cute slogan and that you are no longer welcome to ask this community if you can represent us.
#StepDownYahya #NahNah #AZ02
I’m right here if you need to talk, Liza.
Nice shot, Veronica, give yourself 2 points.
I hesitate trying to explain this to you, a young, self-described rape survivor. I know you think that what you’re doing is very important.
But the single issue that is apparently so central to your entire being is not what the 2018 election is about. I’m sorry you don’t understand that.
Furthermore, the damage is already done to Mr. Yuksel. If he still wants a career in politics, he’ll probably have to become a Republican.
So, you can call off your dogs, or your relatively small cadre of Facebook friends who support you. Let Mr. Yuksel make his statement and let it be. He is not going to be the Democratic nominee, rest assured.
I’m not sure what else you want.
Well, here we go again. Every time I read one of these stories I sit here and grind my teeth.
To be clear, no one is more pleased than I am that growing numbers of women finally have enough self-respect and courage to stop tolerating ALL forms of abuse. It’s been a long time coming.
So, there’s that. But when we drill down to the individuals and their specific circumstances, it is grossly unfair to make assumptions about alleged perpetrators and paint them all with the same tar brush. In the criminal justice system, each case would (supposedly) be decided based on the evidence. In the court of public opinion that is obviously not true, but it probably should be.
This country has an ugly history of rape (ex: white men raping enslaved black women for hundreds of years), but it also has a history of false allegations against innocent people (visit the new Lynching Memorial in Montgomery, AL).
It is worth remembering all of the above when we decide to pass judgement, especially when we don’t have the benefit of knowing all the facts. In fact, all we seem to have here are conflicting accounts including one from a witness that supports the account of the alleged perpetrator.
Furthermore, how shocking is it to learn that teenagers experiment with sex, drugs, and alcohol? Not very unless you’ve been living in Amish country for the last 50 years.
It’s a damn shame. People should not be thrown away based on the slimmest of allegations.
There are some conflicting statements, as Larry Bodine notes. But the over-arching fact remains that a drunk 16-year-old cannot consent. For those who refuse to consider any infraction that did not result in a conviction, he DID plead guilty to criminal DUI. There seems to be a willful disregard for the law here. Congress is full of men who think the rules don’t apply to them. I don’t think we need another one.
“For those who refuse to consider any infraction that did not result in a conviction…”
He wasn’t even charged which would seem to indicate there would not be a conviction.
Words matter.
Yahya is also speaking at DGT on Monday July 23. This alleged rape may be presented to him to address as a campaign issue:
https://blogforarizona.net/event/yahya-yuksel-cd-2-candidate-at-dgt/?instance_id=7031
And he is scheduled for the Represent Me AZ CD 2 forum on July 19 at Tucson High School, mentioned above.
The DGT Board is discussing this, and will very likely disinvite Yahya from speaking to the group. Multiple board members feel very uncomfortable at the idea, and regardless of if he chooses to withdraw from the race or not, DGT will likely not be providing him any platform.
I will update you as soon as I have more information, Carolyn!
I haven’t heard of DGT “disinviting” a candidate to speak. Keep me posted, as these are allegations which Yahha will likely address at the July 19 CD 2 forum.
This citizen and voter would 100% support that decision by DGT, and also thinks that Yahya should step down immediately.
I see on FB that DGT has disinvited Yahya for July 23: “Our speaker next week was scheduled to be Yahya Yuksel on his candidacy for Congressional District 2.
In light of recent revelations uncovered by Joe Ferguson and local activists, as well as the inflammatory and unacceptable “press conference” held Sunday, the DGT Board has decided to revoke Yuksel’s invitation to speak with our membership.
The Democrats of Greater Tucson exist as a consistent source of community for Democrats and supporting our candidates, but most importantly we exist to promote Democratic values. These values include protecting the most vulnerable and building communities and relationships on positive, supportive foundations. Accordingly, we expect those we invite to speak to not just agree with, but champion those values.
Access to our platform is a privilege, not a right, and we take the responsibility very seriously. This action may be unprecedented, but it is a statement of the values we hold dear.
We welcome discussion on this matter, but our decision is final. Instead, our program on July 23rd will be a community forum on sexual violence, domestic assault, and how we can all equip ourselves to combat rape culture in order to build a stronger Southern Arizona and Democratic community. Details will be posted tomorrow here and via email (please visit TheDGT.org to sign-up for our email list).”