Page 13 - IAV Digital Magazine #529

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Oklahoma Man Running For Governor Kidnaps And Rapes Campaign Job Applicant
By Chacour Koop
An Oklahoma man running for governor is accused of kid- napping and sex- ually assaulting a woman who applied for a campaign job.
Paul Tay, a 58- year-old longshot for governor, was charged with first- degree rape, kid- napping and assault with a dangerous weapon after a woman escaped him at a Walmart in Tulsa, police said.
On Sunday, the woman said she responded to a Craigslist job ad for Tay’s cam- paign, which offered pay and a place to live, and
he picked her up in Bethany, Oklahoma, because she did- n’t have a ride to Oklahoma City.
When Tay drove toward Tulsa, not Oklahoma City, the woman tried to leave his vehi- cle and he hit her with a metal pipe and sexually
assaulted her, police said.
Tay ran out of gas on the way home to Tulsa and locked the woman in his car while panhan- dling for money, police said. After gathering enough money, Tay drove the woman to his home, where he
is accused of rape, police said.
On Monday, the woman said she convinced Tay to take her to Walmart for hygiene products and she escaped to get help from a store worker, police said. Tay was arrested in the parking lot.
In June, Tay filed paperwork that indicated his intention to be
a candidate for Oklahoma gover- nor in 2022, The Associated Press reported.
Tay is a perennial yet unsuccess- ful political candi- date, most recently losing a
2020 bid for mayor of Tulsa with less than 300 votes.
During the 2016 mayoral cam- paign, he inter- rupted a televised mayoral
debate he wasn’t invited to partici- pate in by walk- ing onto the set saying, “I deserve my time,” KTUL reported.
Tay, who
was convicted last year of out- raging public decency, has pre- viously been arrested on accu- sations he threat- ened a member of the City Council and solicited prostitu- tion, the news outlet reported.
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