Dale Kildee: Sexual Abuse Allegations Are An 'Attempt To Blackmail Me'

DETROIT — A Michigan congressman said Monday that allegations of sexual abuse made against him by his 63-year-old second cousin are the result of the man's mental illness and other relatives' attempts to extort money from him.

"It's false and outrageous charges," U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "It's based upon a long history of mental illness ... (and) an attempt to blackmail me."

Patrick Kildee told Saginaw CBS affiliate WNEM that Dale Kildee sexually abused him on multiple occasions when he was 15 years old and that the congressman acknowledged the abuse during a visit decades later, saying, "You have no idea how much I suffer because of what I did to you."

Dale Kildee told the AP, however, that his relative's story was "absolutely untrue." The 82-year-old Flint Democrat said he went to the FBI this fall after Patrick's son, Sean, contacted him in late September "indicating that he needed money very badly."

"I have no idea anymore why they're trying to blackmail (me)," the congressman told the AP, adding that another relative attempted to get money from him about 20 years ago.

Kildee's chief of staff, Callie Coffman, said Patrick Kildee spent time in a psychiatric facility about two decades ago.

Patrick Kildee couldn't be reached Monday at a phone listed in his name in New Mexico. A message left at a listed number for a Sean Patrick Kildee in Wisconsin was not immediately returned.

The Washington Times first reported the allegations and posted on its website video interviews with Patrick Kildee's mother, stepfather and sister. WNEM said it conducted its own six-month investigation into the abuse accusations.

The Associated Press does not usually name sexual assault victims, but Patrick Kildee came forward publicly in the television interview.

Dale Kildee, who already had announced plans to retire next year, put out a statement Sunday denying the allegations.

"I regret having to air all of this in public, but I feel like I have no choice," he wrote. "This is a concerted effort ... to destroy my reputation by lying about something that never took place more than 50 years ago."

Asked Monday whether he took a car ride with Patrick Kildee and confessed as his cousin claimed, Dale Kildee said, "It never happened."

The congressman said the allegations surfaced during his last congressional race but were rejected by authorities and news organizations.

Dale Kildee also distributed a copy of a letter, dated Jan. 12, 1988, which he says is the last communication he had with Patrick Kildee. The letter addresses the congressman as "My Dear Cousin Dale" and asks for assistance in combating hunger in Zimbabwe.

Dale and Gayle Kildee have been married since 1965 and have three adult children and 10 grandchildren.

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Follow Kathy Barks Hoffman on Twitter (at)kathybhoffman

Comments

[Consumer64]

12:32 PM on 11/29/2011

Sexual abuse is a shameful thing for the victim, and I believe Senator Kildee did this to the victim. Repressed memories, guilt from the sexual abuse, and depression all cause victims to go over the deep end.

[StephenJamesFlint]

09:23 AM on 11/22/2011

Understand the “Who and “Why” this story has been concocted.
Patrick: Mentally ill, drug addict how once vaguely stated that he was abused by a family member, now caught up in a lie that has benefited him by bring him back into the family for financial care and sympathy.

Jane; (Patrick’s mother) A mother heartbroken and guilt ridden for her son’s desperate life, piecing together a story and time line that the rest of the family (Traverse City Kildees’) finds no evidence of.

Sandi: (Patrick’s sister) repeating her mother’s story to elevate herself within her politics, religion and pro-life group.

It's a heartbreaking story for all sides. Patrick has been so caught up in this lie that he now has to defend or lose his mother's and family's trust. Something that he had once lost a long time ago but regained by not denying his mother's wrong-headed and misguided cover story. He allowed her to make the leading assumptions and then he agreed with them. Piece by piece he and his mother built a story line that Patrick has so internalized that he now thinks it is the truth.

U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee contacted FBI after attempted shakedown
http://www.progressmichigan.org/blog/2011/11/us-rep-dale-kildee-contacted-fbi-after-attempted-shakedown.html

@Sandi Lindstrom: Our hearts' break for you and Patrick. We understand your love, hurt and confusion about your brother, but know that this story you're backing is baseless and imaginary.

[Sandi Lindstrom]

01:10 AM on 11/22/2011

The allegations regarding Dale Kildee and my brother Patrick Kildee were brought to light by an e-mail that I sent out in October, 2010.
My intention then, as it is now, was to bring out the truth about a horrible wrong that was done to my brother. This was an issue that should have been dealt with decades ago, and wasn’t for various reasons.

The story is Patrick’s and it is his to tell. I can’t put in to words how touched and proud I am of his courage to come forward with this.

Politics has never played any part in either of our making this public – the only thing political about the story is the fact that it involves a politician.

It has been a very long painful journey in the past year for so many people involved, but it has been the beginning of a healing process that is long overdue.

Sandi Lindstrom

.

[Ryan P McReynolds]

07:04 AM on 11/25/2011

Dear Sandi

I know your brother is not the only one to have had to deal with such a thing at the hands of his own family member, my ex-fiancee was molested by her step-father, her mom who is now deceased never believed her, and sadly her mom's family all called her liar and one of her aunts in that family (who is racist against the Jews) said "this is not a crime if it happened at age 16 or older." and I am like hello, sex crime is sex crime period and her aunt has 2 daughters, if God forbid one of them gets raped and/or molested at 16, is that lady gonna then say "oh it's not a crime cause you are of age of consent."

If someone is forced to have sex, it is a crime, the damn age does not matter, crime is crime period.

Of course before me and my ex broke up, she use to say to herself "maybe i'm wrong." as her mom's family kept saying she was in the wrong.

When I 1st discussed this with her maternal grandma who she moved in with for a time after her mom passed on, her grandma admitted to me that she remembered her her granddaughter complaining about not wanting to go home, I asked my ex if the molestation was why she didn't want to go home, she told me yes.

[dgoose50]

11:21 PM on 11/21/2011

In the game of Baseball he was The Pitcher and the cousin was the Catcher.

[Infoguy323]

10:36 PM on 11/21/2011

The headline on the main page says, "Congressman Says Sexual Abuse Allegations Are An Attempt to Blackmail Me"
Hmmm. Just a plain-ol' "Congressman," eh?

Meanwhile, I just saw a headline, "GOP Congressman Flips Out."
Oh. A "GOP Congressman."

I guess when a Republican does something unflattering, the party ID is in the headline.

And if a Democrat does something unflattering, he/she is simply a "Congressman"?

-

[denny8844]

11:09 PM on 11/21/2011

You have hit on one of the great secrets of journalism that is never acknowledged but if you pay attention it happens all the time. Just in the last couple of weeks the same thing happened here with articles about former Democratic Governor Corzine, But conveniently none of the HP articles mentioned party affiliation. How nice

[RoofinReality]

11:12 AM on 11/22/2011

Probably trying to protect the D party.
However, I would also ask you to consider that the most watched TV news (not just cable, but TV across the board) station is Fox News.
And, if you'll recall, they have routinely identified Repub political figures in the middle of a storm as being Democrats.
So, in one case, the story kind of buries the political ID of the accused.
In the other, the story misidentifies the political ID of the accused.
If you're saying YOU (infoguy AND Denny) complained when Fox News perpetrated a false ID, then you have growns to stand on. If you didn't, then you're howling at the hypocrisy that you yourself practice.

[redsongia]

11:21 PM on 11/21/2011

I have to agree. The article struck me as very fair minded and when I got to the middle and learned the congressman was a democrat, I understood why Huff Po was suddenly so even handed. Of course, they could have just gone the FOX news route and "mistakenly" identify him as a Republican

[colin72]

10:09 PM on 11/21/2011

"Congressman Says Sexual Abuse Allegations Are 'An Attempt To Blackmail Me'"

Or... they're true and you're claiming it's an attempt to blackmail you because you don't want to get caught.

[Rafael Mojica]

10:58 PM on 11/21/2011

Yeah, we can keep going in circles with that logic, right there.

[NYCBri]

11:03 AM on 11/22/2011

I doubt he would have brought this to the FBI (before it came to public light) if it was true.

[Ed Saletnik]

09:52 PM on 11/21/2011

Nice hair for 82 years old

[Bude]

09:37 PM on 11/21/2011

Why on earth would Michigan voters keep electing this old man. Name me one incumbent who hasn't failed us?

[RoofinReality]

11:13 AM on 11/22/2011

Probably for the same reason Strom Thurmond was sent back to Washington so many years before he died?

[edgarcaycedoc]

09:15 PM on 11/21/2011

Send him to prison for the rest of his life.

[SoapboxKing]

10:14 PM on 11/21/2011

Dont you think he should have a trial before you convict him?

[dad4lifesl]

10:55 AM on 11/22/2011

Did you say the same about Herman Cain?

[Rafael Mojica]

11:02 PM on 11/21/2011

Tar and feather him! Send this man plank! Lead him to the gallows and......wait. There's due process in this country? Oh, sorry. Carry on.