A Los Angeles man reported sexual abuse allegations against a Florida Politician more than two decades after the alleged episode.
According to the investigation, Fabian Basabe, who is now a Florida state representative for the state's 106th district (which includes northeast Miami-Dade County) is being accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a man in late 2003 at a condo in Malibu.
The victim, who agreed to use a pseudonym instead of his real first name, told the Miami Herald in recent interviews that he initially did not report the assault to police because he felt "shame" about what had happened. But other claims made against Basabe since he was elected into the Florida House in 2022 encouraged him to come forward with his story.
The victim gave a sworn statement earlier this month to an attorney in an ongoing lawsuit against Basabe. He described the alleged assault in detail and discussed his motivation for coming forward, saying his goal is to "hold Basabe accountable and prevent others from going through similar experiences."
"I'm not motivated by money. I am not trying to sue him. I'm not trying to shake this guy down for any personal benefit other than to go through a process to come forward," he said, according to the transcript. "I am scared that there are probably other people out there that this has happened to."
The House has investigated two other claims of sexual harassment against Basabe, but neither investigation found him guilty.
He was accused by two staffers of making repeated lewd sexual comments and advances toward a legislative aide and an intern, slapped the aide's butt without his consent while they attended an elementary school career day, and groped and tried to kiss a Florida State University graduate student in a car before hiring him as an intern.
Basabe claims accusations are "politically motivated"
When approached for comment, Basabe said in a statement that the accusations were "baseless" and "false," suggesting they were politically motivated ahead of an upcoming election.
"The timing of these baseless accusations speaks louder about [the Herald's] desire to influence your vote than any statement I can make," Basabe said. "And let's not ignore the fact that I am put under attack less than two weeks to Election Day is revolting and MUST be taken into consideration."
Son to an American mother and Ecuadorian father, Basabe used to appear on reality TV shows in the mid-2000s before pursuing a career in politics. In 2022, he was narrowly elected to represent Miami Beach and other coastal cities in northeast Miami-Dade County.
He will be competing on the November ballot against Joe Saunders, a former member of the Florida State House that represented the Orlando area between 2012 and 2014.
Victim's decision to come forward
According to the victim's sworn statement, his sister and his former boss were the only ones that knew about the incident. In November, his sister came across a story of Basabe in a magazine that described a history of bad behavior by the now Florida representative.
The victim told the Herald that he decided to go public with his story because he wants Basabe to be held accountable, as well as preventing others from getting hurt.
"I need to fix this part of my life because it's affected my life...I don't want to be angry anymore," he said.
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