Huckabee Supported Rapist's Parole?
Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 11:42 am
December 5, 2007
Huckabee faces scrutiny for involvement in rapist parole
Newly published letters are raising questions about how much then-Gov. Huckabee knew about a rapist's history.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Following the release of several new polls suggesting Mike Huckabee has risen into the first tier of the Republican presidential candidates, the former Arkansas governor is facing a fresh round of scrutiny over supporting the parole of a convicted rapist in 1999.
Huckabee, then in his first term as governor, expressed support for the parole of Wayne DuMond, who was serving a life sentence for raping a 17-year-old girl. Less than a year after his release, DuMond was accused of murdering and raping a woman in Kansas City, Missouri, a crime he was eventually convicted of in 2003. He died in prison in 2005.
Huckabee has repeatedly said he wished he had more information about DuMond before advocating the release, and recently told CNN there was no indication DuMond remained a threat.
"There's nothing any of us could ever do," Huckabee said. "None of us could've predicted what he could've done when he got out." Huckabee also said that the process leading to DuMond's release began under former President Bill Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas.
But new documents posted on the liberal Web site The Huffington Post indicate Huckabee had received letters from several victims of Wayne Dumond’s before his release. The letters detailed his past actions and pleaded that he remain incarcerated.
"I feel that if he is released it is only a matter of time before he commits another crime and fear that he will not leave a witness to testify against him the next time," one victim wrote. She described how DuMond had raped her at knifepoint.
In another letter, a woman documented how her mother was raped by DuMond, and said he had told her mother that he would rape her daughter if she did not cooperate.
The Huffington Post says it received the never-before-published letters from a "deeply troubled" former aide to Huckabee who believes the now-presidential candidate has "deliberately attempted to cover up his knowledge of DuMond's other sexual assaults."
Huckabee spokesman Alice Stewart denied to the Huffington Post that Huckabee ever received any of the letters, but now tells CNN he got at least one from a victim named “Onita who lived in DeWitt, Arkansas.
It's not clear if this is one of the letters posted on the Huffington Post, because the site has redacted the names.
The Huffington Post has published three victims' letters, and says it will post additional files later Wednesday.
– CNN’s Dana Bash and Alexander Mooney
Huckabee faces scrutiny for involvement in rapist parole
Newly published letters are raising questions about how much then-Gov. Huckabee knew about a rapist's history.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Following the release of several new polls suggesting Mike Huckabee has risen into the first tier of the Republican presidential candidates, the former Arkansas governor is facing a fresh round of scrutiny over supporting the parole of a convicted rapist in 1999.
Huckabee, then in his first term as governor, expressed support for the parole of Wayne DuMond, who was serving a life sentence for raping a 17-year-old girl. Less than a year after his release, DuMond was accused of murdering and raping a woman in Kansas City, Missouri, a crime he was eventually convicted of in 2003. He died in prison in 2005.
Huckabee has repeatedly said he wished he had more information about DuMond before advocating the release, and recently told CNN there was no indication DuMond remained a threat.
"There's nothing any of us could ever do," Huckabee said. "None of us could've predicted what he could've done when he got out." Huckabee also said that the process leading to DuMond's release began under former President Bill Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas.
But new documents posted on the liberal Web site The Huffington Post indicate Huckabee had received letters from several victims of Wayne Dumond’s before his release. The letters detailed his past actions and pleaded that he remain incarcerated.
"I feel that if he is released it is only a matter of time before he commits another crime and fear that he will not leave a witness to testify against him the next time," one victim wrote. She described how DuMond had raped her at knifepoint.
In another letter, a woman documented how her mother was raped by DuMond, and said he had told her mother that he would rape her daughter if she did not cooperate.
The Huffington Post says it received the never-before-published letters from a "deeply troubled" former aide to Huckabee who believes the now-presidential candidate has "deliberately attempted to cover up his knowledge of DuMond's other sexual assaults."
Huckabee spokesman Alice Stewart denied to the Huffington Post that Huckabee ever received any of the letters, but now tells CNN he got at least one from a victim named “Onita who lived in DeWitt, Arkansas.
It's not clear if this is one of the letters posted on the Huffington Post, because the site has redacted the names.
The Huffington Post has published three victims' letters, and says it will post additional files later Wednesday.
– CNN’s Dana Bash and Alexander Mooney
