Patrick Moran, son of Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), was sentenced to probation on Wednesday after pleading guilty to assaulting his girlfriend outside of a Washington, D.C. bar earlier this month, the Washington City Paper reported on Wednesday.
The incident took place in front of a Northwest D.C. establishment in the early morning of Dec. 1, according to a police report obtained by the Washington City Paper.
Moran and his girlfriend of six months had been arguing over another woman he had spoken with inside the bar, according to the report, when Moran grabbed his girlfriend "by the back of her head" and slammed it into a "metal trash can cage." When police arrived, they found Moran's girlfriend "bleeding heavily from the nose." A medical examiner reportedly told police that the woman's nose looked broken and that her eye socket may have been fractured. Moran was booked on a felony domestic assault charge, which was knocked down to simple assault on Wednesday following a plea agreement.
Rep. Moran later gave a statement to the City Paper, describing his son and his girlfriend as "good kids."
"I hope their privacy will be respected," he said. "They look forward to putting this embarrassing situation behind them.”
The younger Moran was involved in controversy earlier this year, when he -- as field director for his father's campaign -- was targeted by conservative sting filmmaker James O'Keefe. In an undercover video released by O'Keefe's Project Veritas, Moran discussed a voter fraud scheme with an operative from the group. He later resigned from the campaign.
The elder Moran also has also been accused of domestic violence in the past. His second wife, Mary Howard Moran, called the police on her then-husband in 1999, claiming that he'd hit her. She filed for divorce the next day. Moran later filed his own papers, claiming that financial problems were behind their separation, and no charges were filed over the alleged assault. He's since worked to secure grants for domestic violence prevention groups in his district.
Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
UPDATE: 3:00 p.m. -- Moran's office has provided a followup statement to the City Paper, claiming that the entire incident was an "accident."
Before You Go
