HENRICO COUNTY, Va. – Virginia Delegate Joe Morrissey (D – Henrico) exited Henrico court Tuesday and launched into a 20-minute diatribe against the special prosecutor William Neely and fellow lawmakers who have called for his resignation following his indictment on child sex crime charges.
“There is not a snowball’s chance in hell that I will resign,” Morrissey said when asked pointed blank by CBS 6 political reporter Joe St. George. “If Mr. Neely wants a fight, he is going to get one.”
Monday a grand jury returned indicted Morrissey on supervisory indecent liberties with a minor, electronic solicitation of a minor, possession of child pornography, distribution of child pornography and contributing to the delinquency of a minor charges.
Prosecutors accused him of having sex with a 17-year-old employee in his law office. He was also accused of asking for and receiving a sexually explicit photo via text message and then showing that photo to a friend.
Morrissey said he has been "wrongly accused" and would be "totally exonerated" when the evidence comes out. He then addressed special prosecutor Neely's allegations one by one.
- Morrissey said the teen at the center of the charges was at his home to get away from her abusive father. He said he did not stall officers who arrived at his home in August 2013 while the teenager was inside.
- Morrissey said he did not have sex with the teen in his law offices. He said he spent much of the day in question, August 20, 2013, traveling and in meetings.
"My entire day in accounted for," Morrissey said. "At no time [that evening] did I go to my office or was I with [the teenager]. His [Neely] allegations that I had sex with her on the 20th are absolutely wrong."
He said he went to events in Charles City County and in Richmond where time-stamped photos were taken.
- Morrissey said allegations that the teen has changed her story over time is not true. Morrissey said he four recordings of police detectives talking to [the teenager] about the case. He said police suggested she should alter her story and sue Morrissey for two million dollars.
"There were a total of four meeting with detectives and at all times, during all recorded conversations, she never wavered from the fact that there was no sexual activity," he said. "For the prosecutor to say she gave contradictory stories is not fair. "
- Morrissey said nude photos discovered on cell phones were put there by a woman who hacked into a phone belonging to both [the teenager] and Morrissey. He said the woman he accused of hacking into the phones is love with [the teenager].
"There are no images, there are no text between me and [the teenager] or [the teenager] to me," Morrissey said. "Our experts have uncovered the hacking device, the serial number and the texts."
Morrissey said Neely denied his efforts to present this evidence to the grand jury. Morrissey said his life would not change due to the charges against him. He said he would continue to defend his clients, but he will also need to defend himself.
"I will get ready for trial. I will win because I will be vindicated. I will be vindicated because of the facts and because of the evidence," Morrissey said.
This is a developing story.
