BuzzFeed reported Wednesday night that John Perry, a prolific author who has worked with Huckabee on several books, was accused of child molestation in two different lawsuits.
“A 2012 police investigation of Perry’s alleged offenses found that ‘the allegations of sexual battery were sustained’ but that the statute of limitations had expired,” BuzzFeed’s Andrew Kaczynski and Ilan Ben-Meir wrote, citing a police department spokesperson.
In a “second series of lawsuits,” a former church parishioner accuses his congregation of covering up Perry’s alleged child molestation. The victim reportedly claimed Perry molested her when she was as young as 11.
Perry is cited as a co-author of Huckabee ‘s 1997 tome, “Character IS the Issue,” and as a contributor for Huckabee’s 2007 book, “Character Makes a Difference.” Perry’s website further says he provided “research and writing” for Huckabee’s 2008 presidential campaign memoir, “Do the Right Thing.”
Perry and the Huckabee campaign did not immediately return requests for comment from Business Insider on Thursday. However, Huckabee has previously been willing to stand by his friends accused of past wrongdoing.
Last month, Huckabee passionately defended Josh Duggar, the eldest son of the TLC show “19 Kids & Counting,” after it was revealed that police once investigated child molestation allegations against him. The Duggar family prominently endorsed Huckabee’s presidential campaign.
“Janet and I want to affirm our support for the Duggar family. Josh’s actions when he was an underage teen are as he described them himself, ‘inexcusable,’ but that doesn’t mean ‘unforgivable,'” Huckabee wrote on Facebook. “He and his family dealt with it and were honest and open about it with the victims and the authorities. No purpose whatsoever is served by those who are now trying to discredit Josh or his family by sensationalizing the story. Good people make mistakes and do regrettable and even disgusting things.”
Click here to read the full BuzzFeed report.
This article was originally published on Business Insider. Copyright 2015.
