Mitch Perry
For the third consecutive day, Rick Baker‘s campaign is working to keep Rick Kriseman chief of staff Kevin King in the news cycle.
This time, they are seizing on a Tampa Bay Times editorial published Thursday calling on Kriseman to unseal court records regarding King’s arrest sixteen years ago.
In 2001, as a 22-year-old Pinellas County substitute schoolteacher, King was charged with a single count of computer solicitation to commit a lewd and lascivious act, as well as two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. King had allegedly emailed a 14-year-old, propositioning sex, and asked a 15-year-old to skip school to drink beer with him.
On Tuesday, the Baker campaign began airing a television commercial referring to the charges, following up Wednesday (and again Thursday) with calls for Kriseman to unseal the records of the case, which was expunged from the court system.
St. Petersburg’s director of education and community engagement Leah McRae reports to King. With city employees being recruited to serve as volunteer mentors in local schools, they are required to fill out a document sharing their criminal past, as well as submit to a Level II background screening.
The Baker camp is asking if King could pass such a screening.
“As a former Pinellas County schoolteacher, I know this background check is imperative to protecting our children from any possible danger,” said Nick Hansen, Baker’s campaign director.
“The Tampa Bay Times editorial board has asked Kriseman’s chief of staff to release the records so voters can evaluate the situation and reach their own conclusions,” says a statement from the Baker campaign. “Today, we are all asking for the same thing.”
On Wednesday, Kriseman spoke with Florida Politics about the TV spot, saying: “It’s always sad when you see ads that are personal.” Otherwise, he has been silent on the issue.
