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Is Madison Cawthorn a 'sexual predator'? GOP Rep accused of molesting and slut-shaming over 20 women in college

On more than one occasion, Cawthorn allegedly tried to force his women classmates in college to sit on his lap while he touched them inappropriately

Controversial 25-year-old GOP Rep Madison Cawthorn is in the middle of a scandal once again as more than three dozen people, including over 20 former students, their friends and relatives, have corroborated instances of sexual misconduct by Cawthorn at the Patrick Henry College campus. Speaking to BuzzFeed News, the women revealed his "aggressive, misogynistic, or predatory" behavior. They also accused him of slut-shaming and often touching them without consent.

The sexual harassment allegations against Cawthorn are not new. In the past, his former classmates have leveled such complaints against him, stating a pattern of 'sexually aggressive behavior' that he portrayed in his college days. 

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When Cawthorn's political career started taking off, his former classmates were reportedly in shock. In private Facebook groups, they discussed Cawthorn's 'chauvinistic' attitude on campus and the sexual misconduct with many women, reports BuzzFeed News. In October 2020, more than 160 individuals signed an open letter against the young Republican Rep, stating his "gross misconduct towards our female peers, public misrepresentation of his past, disorderly conduct that was against the school’s student honor code, and self-admitted academic failings". The letter also mentioned how he had reportedly developed a reputation for 'predatory' behavior. 

Cawthorn has consistently denied all the allegations, calling them fabricated. However, the accounts of many women suggest otherwise. 

In 2016, Cawthorn joined the Christian campus of Patrick Henry College at 21 years, following the recovery from a severe car accident that left him paralyzed waist down from his teenage years. He was older than most of his batchmates, and quite a misfit among the conservative Christian and academically sincere student community.

Cawthorn allegedly used his car to entrap and harass his women classmates, as stated by three survivors and seven people who were aware of his behavior. He would reportedly often invite the women alone for a 'fun drive' off the campus, during which he would start making them feel uncomfortable by asking about their sexual experiences. While Cawthorn drove recklessly through secluded locations, the women would sit frozen in his car, nervous and extremely uncomfortable. 

Caitlin Coulter, a former classmate who he once invited for a 'drive', narrated, "I realized he was taking me out to the middle of nowhere, Virginia. We were on these small, like, one- (or) two-lane back roads, and I just felt so uncomfortable and nervous and not even something I think at the time I could put a finger on, but just, like, danger warning.”

Soon, the women at the college passed on a secret warning among each other, not to be alone with Cawthorn in his car. Cawthorn allegedly called women 'slutty' among other derogatory names in public. Whenever he got a chance, he reportedly asked some women inappropriate sexual questions. He even went on to allegedly grabbing their thighs or molesting them, often touching and kissing without consent. He had allegedly forced a few women to sit on his lap as well. 

Katrina Krulikas, a woman whom Cawthorn dated in college, shared a detailed account of her haunting experience with him at the age of 17. She recalled the time when Cawthorn drove her to a 'secluded field' for a bonfire and allegedly started inquiring about her sexual history. He later allegedly pressured her to come and sit on his lap. He then tried to grab her forcibly, when she struggled to get away, her hair got stuck on his wheelchair. She yanked out her own hair to free herself. That was the last time Krulikas went out with Cawthorn, she said.

Cawthorn attended the college for only one semester but within that time he had a reputation for mistreating women. Another of Cawthorn's classmate, Leah Petree, whom he continuously pestered to go out with him, agreed with Coulter on one thing — that after seeing his true nature, it was difficult for them to sit in the chapel and listen to him emotionally speaking about closeness to God. But from close quarters, Cawthorn was someone who allegedly nursed a bad temper, often ending up in derogatory abuse towards women. On one occasion, he called Petree a "little blonde slutty American girl". 

Petree now works as a Republican intern at the Capitol and often has awkward encounters with Cawthorn at work. She also stated that Cawthorn's present communications manager Micah Bock, who consistently refuted all allegations against him, is also a sexual predator himself. He allegedly pressed his body and genitals against Petree while she slept with friends after a pool party in 2016. 

Diego Lastra, another Patrick Henry alumnus who tried hanging out with Cawthorn and his friends in college, recalls feeling uneasy amid their vulgar jokes and proud descriptions of touching women as if they were 'conquests'. Cawthorn once allegedly asked Lastra, "Which race of girls gives the best blowjobs?" He answered his own question saying, "White girls are the worst, Black girls are second, Asian girls are the best.” Diego also recalled one party where Cawthorn allegedly pulled a woman classmate onto his lap and put his finger between her legs while she squirmed uncomfortably. 

Another woman from Patrick Henry also stated that he once grabbed her thigh from beneath her dress. 

'Authentic sexual predator. Authentic piece of trash'

After the BuzzFeed report was published, it became viral in no time with people slamming Cawthorn. "Authentic stolen valor. Authentic fake Christian. Authentic sexual predator. Authentic piece of trash, Madison Cawthorn," wrote one user. "Don't let the wheelchair fool you- Madison Cawthorn is a pervy creep," wrote another, as many asserted their belief that it was Cawthorn's wheelchair that won him sympathy votes. "I'm 100% convinced the only reason he won congress was due to sympathy votes because he's in a wheelchair. Take it from a guy who was born disabled: People like Madison Cawthorn are why we don't want your sympathy; it can give dangerous people more power than they deserve," tweeted a user.