Ohio lawmaker denies he tried to choke, kiss opponent in 2015

State Rep. Rick Perales, R-Beavercreek (left) and his opponent in the May 8 Republican primary, Jocelyn Smith.

State Rep. Rick Perales, R-Beavercreek (left) and his opponent in the May 8 Republican primary, Jocelyn Smith.

Jocelyn Smith, the Fairborn woman running in the Republican primary against State Rep. Rick Perales, R-Beavercreek, is accusing him of kissing and choking her in his Jeep in January 2015.

Perales, who is serving his third term in a district that includes Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and other parts of western Greene County, denied choking Smith or having any sexual contact with her, including kissing. He did acknowledge having what he called an “inappropriate” sexting relationship with her that included flirtatious text messages and phone calls.

According to Perales, Smith sent him topless photos and sexually oriented texts but they did not engage in any sexual acts.

“Certainly there was nothing intimate,” said Perales, a former Beavercreek mayor and Greene County Commissioner. “If there was any touching it was all flirtatious, if that. It was sexting. Let me make it very clear to you that I never ever sent any pictures of any sort.”

Smith, who is making her first run for public office, said Perales’s contacts with her went well beyond flirting, though she never filed a complaint with police. She denied sending topless photos or sexually oriented texts.

“He wanted to have sex with me. He didn’t get what he wanted,” Smith, 36, said in an interview with the Dayton Daily News. She said she plans to have a press conference Tuesday to formally launch her candidacy and explain her reasons for running.

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