Grand Old Police Blotter: It's Not Okay If You're A Republican Edition

Remember those stories from earlier this year concerning sexual assaults at Occupy encampments?  Sure you do, because the SCLM loved to highlight them, and half-witted bloggers loved to link to them, and all of them loved to downplay the fact that the victims were activists and the assailants weren't.

Remember hearing about this story?  Of course you don't.

A Utah County man charged with raping five women will remain in jail with bail set at $2 million after a judge denied a defense motion to reduce the amount.... 

Peterson faces kidnapping and rape charges in Salt Lake and Wasatch counties.

Peterson is well known in Utah Republican circles, and has hosted political events at a cabin in Heber, where prosecutors say some of the sexual assaults occurred. Peterson met all four women because of his membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to testimony.

Here's the background:

Gregory Nathan Peterson has hobnobbed with the likes of Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee, Gov. Gary Herbert, U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, and candidates such as 4th District congressional contender Mia Love.

Peterson was charged Wednesday in 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City with 23 felony counts, including rape and kidnapping, and two misdemeanors. A jail log indicates U.S. marshals arrested Peterson in his cabin in Heber and booked him into the Salt Lake County jail. He remained there Thursday in lieu of $750,000 bail.

Charging documents allege sexual assaults against four women Peterson met in Salt Lake County beginning March 26, 2011 [through April 21, 2012]. In the first case, the documents allege, he met a woman at a church function and she agreed to go to a movie with him.

But instead of going to a theater, the documents allege, Peterson told the woman he had a gun and took her to his five-bedroom, five-bathroom, 3,000-square-foot cabin in Heber where he has hosted annual Republican barbecues and gatherings. The documents allege he sexually assaulted the woman and hit her when she did not do as he wished. Peterson drove the woman back to her vehicle the next morning.
...

Peterson is charged with two counts of aggravated kidnapping, three counts of rape, seven counts of object rape, and one count of forcible sexual abuse, all first-degree felonies; nine second-degree felony counts of forcible sexual abuse; one third-degree felony count of burglary. He also is charged with one count each of assault and sexual battery, both misdemeanors.
...

Peterson is a certified financial planner and the owner of two Orem-based companies — Peterson Wealth Management and [deleted], an online trading website. He holds an MBA in finance and entrepreneurship from Brigham Young University.

The Peterson charges and arrest were covered by Utah news outlets and at Talking Points Memo, but almost nowhere else. None of the sniggering fools who yukked it up about assaults at Occupy encampments saw fit to discuss Mr. Peterson's conduct (at least publicly).

According to this article, Peterson was a wingnut blogger, although not one of the more notorious ones.

The profile in cowardice award in this matter goes to U.S. Representative Jason Chaffetz, who couldn't be bothered:

Chaffetz said there was a rumor circulating about inappropriate behavior involving Peterson a few months ago, "but there was nothing ever of any substance ... just pure gossip, and now I’m reading about it in the newspaper."

"It's sad," Chaffetz said. "I worry about these women. We have an obligation to take care of them. That should be priority one."

Chaffetz is quoted as saying this on July 19, 2012, less than a "few months" after the April 21, 2012 assault. But, no, Chaffetz couldn't have possibly used his authority as a leader of the Utah Republican Party to do anything about a lesser Party leader whose sexual abuse was the subject of gossip in his G.O.P. set.  It's much easier to shed tears after it's too fucking late.