H. Con. Res.107 condemned sex between children and adults. The resolution passed The resolution passed 355-0-13. Ted Strickland, in 1999, was only 1 of 13 members of the U.S. House that refused to condemn sex between adults and children. This study was used by the North American Man Boy Love Association as propaganda to promote their disturbing cause.

H.Con. Res.107 (1999) resolution resolved that:

(1) condemns and denounces all suggestions in the article 'A Meta-Analytic Examination of Assumed Properties of Child Sexual Abuse Using College Samples' that indicate that sexual relationships between adults and 'willing' children are less harmful than believed and might be positive for 'willing' children (Psychological Bulletin, vol. 124, No. 1, July 1998);

(2) vigorously opposes any public policy or legislative attempts to normalize adult-child sex or to lower the age of consent;

(3) urges the President likewise to reject and condemn, in the strongest possible terms, any suggestion that sexual relations between children and adults--regardless of the child's frame of mind--are anything but abusive, destructive, exploitive, reprehensible, and punishable by law; and

(4) encourages competent investigations to continue to research the effects of child sexual abuse using the best methodology, so that the public, and public policymakers, may act upon accurate information.

The full resolution is available here.

Afterwards, Ted Strickland defended his vote with this speech on the floor of the US House on July 27, 1999:

DO NOT VOTE TO CONDEMN UNTIL WE KNOW WHAT IT IS

(Mr. STRICKLAND asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. STRICKLAND. Mr. Speaker, it troubles me that sometimes in this Chamber we stand and say things that we ought not to say. We criticize people that we have no right to criticize.

We recently voted to condemn a scientific study and an organization, an organization that has done as much as any organization in this country to fight child abuse.

I wonder how many of us read the study before we were willing to vote to say that the methodology was flawed. I wonder how many of us were technically competent to make that decision.

I believe that we ought to observe the Ten Commandments. One of those Commandments says, you ought not to bear false witness against your neighbor.

When we say things about an organization or about an individual scientist that are untrue or unsubstantiated, in my judgment, we have violated that Commandment.

We ought to have the decency not to vote to condemn something until we know what it is we are voting to condemn.

The Dayton Daily News, on March 17, 2006, reported on this situation (emphasis added):

Dems engage in war of words - Accusations fly in Strickland, Flannery battle Lynn Hulsey
Dayton Daily News
March 17, 2006

Hard-hitting comments by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bryan Flannery have U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland responding with strong language of his own in what had been a quiet race.

"Bryan Flannery is not a significant person to me," said Strickland, who faces former state Rep. Flannery in the May primary. "It's just kind of sad that someone would want to be governor so badly that they would do what I think Mr. Flannery has done."

Flannery issued a statement Wednesday criticizing Strickland for hiring a man who had been convicted of exposing himself to children.

The man worked for Strickland from 1997 to 1999, as a congressional and campaign staffer.
According to Athens police, the man's case stems from 1994, when he was arrested for public indecency after several children reported he'd exposed himself. Police records show he was found guilty, although the exact charge is unclear.

Flannery said court records of the case are missing, and he called on the Athens County prosecutor to investigate.

But Jesse Lipcius, the man's attorney, said the records are gone because they've been expunged.

Strickland said Thursday he was unaware of the man's record when he hired him, and he accused Flannery of implying Strickland had something to do with the missing court documents. "I have not had anything to do with the records, have no knowledge of the records," he said.

Strickland said he was "disappointed and sad" to hear of the man's record.

He said that late in the 1998 campaign, an anonymous letter arrived accusing the man of sexual misconduct.

"At that point I asked him about it and he denied that these accusations are true," Strickland said. In retrospect, Strickland said he "perhaps" should have pursued the matter more aggressively, but that he tends to give little credibility to anonymous tips.

The man left Strickland's office in 1999 of his own accord.

Strickland also questioned Flannery's motives for saying Strickland and the man traveled to Italy after the 1998 campaign.

Strickland said campaign workers planned to treat themselves to the trip if Strickland won, but as it turned out only Strickland and the man were able to go.

Political bloggers accused Flannery of questioning Strickland's sexual orientation. Flannery spokesman Anthony Fossaceca denied it: "That was not the intent. That has no place in this campaign at all, period."

He said Flannery was just trying to show that Strickland knew the staffer well. The dispute has the Ohio Democratic Party calling for Flannery to stick to the issues.

Strickland said, "I do think that anyone who seeks the governor's office should conduct himself and his campaign in a manner that is worthy of the people of our state and I find this disappointing."

Fossaceca said Flannery agrees with Strickland. "Candidates seeking the highest elected office in the state should be held to a higher standard," he said. 

The Plain Dealer on March 16, 2006 also reported on this situation. (emphasis added):

Governor's race takes nasty turn with charge Mark Naymik
The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer
March 16, 2006

The Democratic race for governor turned ugly Wednesday when long-shot candidate Bryan Flannery accused front-runner Ted Strickland of employing a sex offender on his congressional and campaign staffs, though he offered no proof to support his charge.

Flannery didn't at first identify the Strickland employee, but said in a statement that the employee has pleaded guilty at least four times to exposing himself to children in Athens County. The campaign provided one date on which the employee supposedly was arrested but offered no records to support it.

Flannery's campaign spokesman, Anthony Fossaceca, identified the employee but could not say when he worked for Strickland, though the statement implies that the man is still employed.

It could not be determined Wednesday whether the employee was convicted, charged or even arrested. Flannery's statement said court records about the offender are missing and hinted that Strickland's campaign might be involved in their disappearance.

Flannery said he has asked the Athens County prosecutor to investigate "who might have had a hand in the disappearance of the records."

Strickland said in a telephone interview from Washington that during his 1998 re-election campaign he received an anonymous letter accusing a campaign employee, who had earlier worked on his congressional staff, of exposing himself in public.

Strickland said he confronted the employee, who denied the charge, and he let the matter drop. The employee left on his own accord around September 1999, Strickland said.

Asked why he didn't check court records when he received the letter, Strickland said, "I don't typically react to an anonymous letter in a heated campaign. I just dismissed it."

Strickland said he had "absolutely no knowledge" of the man having a criminal background when he hired him in 1997 for his congressional staff.

Strickland refused to comment on Flannery's decision to publicize the case.

"I don't want to characterize what he chooses to do," he said.

Washington bureau chief Stephen Koff and news researcher Patti Graziano contributed to this story.

Here is another article from The Cleveland Plain Dealer from April 13, 2006:

Strickland foe's harsh charges disputed Ted Wendling
The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer
April 13, 2006

Columbus- Former Notre Dame football player Bryan Flannery heaved a Hail Mary pass Wednesday, accusing fellow Democrat Ted Strickland of hiring a sex offender, vacationing with him in Italy and participating in a conspiracy to hide court records of the conviction.

The latter allegation was knocked down shortly after Flannery made his remarks at a Statehouse news conference. A lawyer who represents the former Strickland staffer - and who had been standing at the back of the room - produced a confidential court order showing that the man's conviction in Athens County was expunged in 2002.

The lawyer, Jesse Lipcius of Dayton, also said Flannery incorrectly referred to the 1994 conviction as a sex offense; Lipcius noted that sex offenses cannot be expunged under Ohio law.

The expungement order shows the man was convicted of public indecency, a fourth-degree misdemeanor.

Flannery, who lags far behind Strickland in the polls for the Democratic nomination for Ohio governor, said he has been stymied in his attempts to obtain information about a second sex offense he said the same former staffer committed in Washington County.

In response to that charge, Lipcius provided a copy of a second expungement order - this one granted by a Marietta Municipal Court judge - showing the man was charged in 1995 with an unspecified misdemeanor but never convicted. All records in the case were sealed in 2002.

The man worked for Strickland's campaign from 1997 to 1999, at one time serving as Strickland's campaign manager.

Flannery never identified the man in his remarks, and he blacked out the man's name in an Athens police report he distributed that says the man "committed disrobing in public areas" in front of adults and minors.

He insinuated that Strickland and the man continue to have an "improper" relationship, contending the man lives "a block or two" away from Strickland and his wife in Washington, D.C.

That's untrue. The man lives in Illinois.

Both Strickland, a congressman from Lucasville, and Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern fired back at Flannery, characterizing the former state legislator's charges two weeks before the primary as sleazy and desperate.

"I think, unfortunately, Mr. Flannery is a candidate whose campaign hasn't really attracted a lot of attention or support," Strickland said. "We're coming very close to the primary election date and I think he's desperately trying to call attention to himself and find some political bullet that will propel him into a position where he can be competitive with me."

In a statement, Redfern said Flannery's "bombastic allegations" were "reminiscent of a 19th century snake oil salesman - buyer beware."

But Flannery predicted that the allegations would continue to haunt the Strickland campaign.

"If, for some reason, he gets through the primary, this issue isn't going away," Flannery said. "He can't win."

 Today, World Net Daily detailed the Strickland staffer in question:

'Foley problem' for Ohio's Strickland
Posted: October 17, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi

A "Foley problem" at the heart of Ted Strickland's Democratic gubernatorial campaign in Ohio deepened over the weekend when an anonymous e-mailer revealed the identity of the "mystery man" in the Strickland organization who has a history of sexual misconduct involving minors going back to 1994.

Bryan Specht, now age 33, was the campaign manager for Rep. Ted Strickland's 1998 congressional re-election. Specht was named as the perpetrator in the criminal records distributed in an anonymous e-mail circulated in Ohio last Friday and forwarded to this author. The anonymous e-mail apparently was sent simultaneously to several different Ohio attorneys and bloggers by someone identified only as "Ohio Concerned Citizen."

The e-mail sent last weekend included several police reports concerning the sexual offenses with Bryan Specht's name clearly printed, along with other identifying information, including Social Security number. Brian Flannery, the challenger to Strickland in this year's Ohio Democratic Party gubernatorial primary, attacked Strickland with copies of these same police reports, identical except that the name of the offender and other identifying information concerning the offender had been redacted through blackouts.

Last Friday's anonymous e-mail was the first time the "mystery" sexual offender associated with the Strickland campaign had been revealed. We compared the police records with Brian Specht's name and identifying information with the redacted documents circulated during the primary by challenger Flannery and found the documents were identical, with the exception of the redacted information.

As previously reported, Ohio newspapers had disclosed earlier this year that Strickland refused to fire the man in 1998 even after being notified of Specht's sexual misconduct charges. Moreover, Strickland took Specht on a celebratory trip to Italy, without Strickland's wife, after the 1998 electoral victory, despite being presented evidence that Specht had committee sexual improprieties with minors.

According to the original Athens Police Department records provided in the anonymous e-mail, Specht was arrested Sept. 23, 1994. Specht, then a 21 year-old Ohio University student, was apprehended for several incidents of public indecency that had occurred on four previous days, Sept. 4, 12, 15 and 20, 1994.

According to the report, Specht was observed disrobing in public areas such as East Side Elementary School. The witnesses were adults as well as minors.

A separate witness complaint filed with the Athens Police Department Sept. 15, 1994, further documents that Specht was in his parked car outside the school. When the two juvenile witnesses passed the car, Specht "opened the door and pulled down his pants, and began to masturbate."

According to the Athens Police Department report, Specht appeared at court Sept. 26, 1994, and pleaded "guilty." Psychological counseling was recommended.

Specht currently resides in Chicago, Ill., where he is a public relations counsel with the Chicago office of Weber Shandwick, an international public relations consultant firm.

A Google search reveals Brian Specht as the person who maintains a blog where he is identified only as "Cyclebreaker." The title of Specht's blog is "Breaking the Vicious Cycle of Childhood Sexual Abuse."

In the "About Me" section of the blog, Specht reveals that he was the victim of repeated childhood abuse by caregivers, relatives and a parent. His next statement appears to confirm the sexual misconduct with minors reported by the Athens Police Department, plus some additional misconduct, including drug abuse:

By college I became an example of the need for early intervention; an example of how child abuse can lead one to be self-destructive. I was a case study in the stats – 59 percent more likely to be arrested, 33 percent more likely to be an abuser and 66 percent more likely to abuse drugs.

Specht reveals that he "sought forgiveness from God" and further asserts that his life was "profoundly changed forever" as a consequence.

Specht says that through "intensive treatment and strong faith" he managed to "turn his life around" – though he still rails about "a broken insurance system where the necessary services were not covered."

Today I am a healthy father, husband and Christian. I am proud to serve on the board and key committees of two abuse prevention organizations. I hope to help any way I can to end this vicious cycle.

Ohio Concerned Citizen, in the anonymous e-mail revealing Specht's name and producing the un-redacted police documents concerning his sexual offenses with minors, pulls no punches in attacking Strickland over the Specht affair. In a shocking contrast of "do as I say, not as I do," Congressman Ted Strickland running for governor of Ohio has a deeply disturbing and suppressed history relating to the same kind of trust issues raised by the recent Mark Foley cyber-sex scandal. Ohio Concerned Citizen notes that Strickland espouses "personal piety and concern for children," yet the anonymous e-mailer charges Strickland with "engaging in troubling and possibly criminal behavior." According to Ohio Concerned Citizen, Strickland, whenever questioned about Specht's sexual improprieties, dismisses the relevance of the charges "by calling them 'ridiculous.'"

Ohio Concerned Citizen ends his e-mail by charging Strickland with using a strategy of claiming innocence in the attempt to buy time. Now, however, with the election just weeks away, in the interest of full disclosure, Congressman Strickland must provide a full explanation for the record below, particularly because he is campaigning as a proponent of the values that are best for Ohio.

Ohio Concerned Citizen goes on to object to a Strickland campaign ad produced by MacWilliams, Robinson, & Partners, a public relations firm in Washington, D.C. (first ad). The anonymous e-mailer notes that the ad begins with Strickland saying, "I will be a law-abiding governor." The commercial ends with Strickland saying, "If we attend to our kids in a timely manner and provide them with what every child needs, safety, appropriate health care, and early learning experiences, we will be preparing those children to become successful adults."

Ohio Concerned Citizen objects: As the record below demonstrates, Strickland has violated the very principles and statements that he is representing as the reason he should be elected Ohio's governor.

In his e-mail, Ohio Concerned Citizen asks why Strickland hired a man who was "known to have been arrested for public indecency after exposing himself to children on multiple occasions?" The e-mailer further questioned why the congressman rewarded Specht with a celebratory 1998 trip to Italy alone with Strickland instead of firing him as soon as he learned of the charges. "Are we known by the company we keep?" Ohio Concerned Citizen asks.

In a Podcast for young public-relations professionals recorded by Josh Morton, who works for Specht at Weber Shandwick Chicago, Specht repeats his anger at an insurance system. "I sort of stumbled into politics. I was passionate about an issue that affected me and my family," Specht explains in the Podcast.

I come from a working class family with not a lot of access to resources, particular health care issues. My family had a lot of experience with mental illness and addiction. I saw through my personal experiences a health care system and really a society that did not seriously address problems of addiction, abuse, mental health or mental health parity in our financial medical health system.

Specht further explained that he "stumbled into politics" on a personal mission without intending to make politics his career.

According to the Podcast, Specht is a member of the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations and served on the Clinton-Gore presidential campaign staff. He is currently a senior vice president at Weber Shandwick Chicago, where he is director of corporate affairs and a member of the executive leadership team. Specht directs the group's global corporate reputation, corporate issues and crisis management programs.

Specht's attorney, Marc Mezibov, of the Cincinnati law firm Mezibov & Jenkins did not dispute that Specht was properly identified as the perpetrator in the original 1994 criminal records from the Athens Police Department.

Mezibov further confirmed to this writer that Specht's 1994 criminal records in Athens, Ohio, had been expunged in 2002 at Specht's request.

The attorney also denied that Specht was involved in any homosexual relationship with Strickland.

"Our client is not a predator," Mezibov said, "and he is not a homosexual." Mezibov added, "To the best of my professional knowledge, these incidents in the 1990s are the full extent of Mr. Specht's criminal record."

Mezibov also confirmed that Specht traveled to Italy alone with Strickland in 1998 to celebrate the lawmaker's re-election.

No response was received from the Strickland gubernatorial campaign after several phone calls asking for comment on this development.

The campaign of Republican Party gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell declined to comment.

For more information, contact Carlo LoParo at (614) 221-8552.