The Republican candidate in one of Virginia’s closest state Senate races once joked about how many rape cases he failed to solve while working as a sheriff.
Danny Diggs faces off Tuesday against Democratic incumbent Monty Mason. Diggs served as a county sheriff from 1999 until the end of 2022. And by his own admission, he didn’t have the best track record when it came to sexual assault cases.
During his sheriff retirement speech in January, Diggs spoke about how special it was to meet people years after he had helped solve their issues.
“It must have been 30 years ago.… We solved a rape case,” Diggs said. “The lady saw me a few years ago, and it had been 30 years, and she remembered me and remembered that we had solved her case and how much that meant to her. How she was able to get her life together and move on.”
Diggs then asked his successor, Sheriff Ron Montgomery, “Was that the only one we ever solved?”
The two men laughed as Diggs said, “We don’t want to get into that!”
Republican Virginia State Senate candidate Danny Diggs joked about unsolved rape cases during his sheriff retirement speech.
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Diggs’s joke is horrifying, as it shows how little regard he has for certain types of crime. Most rape cases in Virginia go unsolved. A 2019 study found that fewer than 20 percent of sexual assault cases in the state end with an arrest. Diggs’s callous comment is a sign that he is a part of that problem.
But Diggs’s disregard for sexual rights and autonomy goes further. In a September interview with conservative podcaster John Fredericks, Diggs said he wanted to crack down on “crime” by jailing doctors who perform abortions.
“You can’t have doctors doing illegal abortions with no sanctions!” Diggs said, accusing Mason and other state Democrats of being soft on crime.
Abortion is currently legal in Virginia up to 26 weeks and six days, although the state has tried to limit access. For instance, minors who need an abortion have to get permission from their parents or guardians first.
Virginia is currently the last southeastern state to allow abortion access, after state Republicans implemented cruel bans in the Carolinas and Florida. Tuesday’s election will determine which party has control of the state legislature and will thus shape the future of reproductive freedom in Virginia.
