View full sizeBrecksville auto dealer and former congressional candidate Tom Ganley was indicted on seven counts.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A seven-count
, a high-profile auto dealer and onetime congressional candidate, of kidnapping a 39-year-old Cleveland woman and having sexual contact with her.
Ganley, 68, faces three felony charges of gross sexual imposition, and single counts of kidnapping, abduction, solicitation, and menacing by stalking, according to Ryan Miday, a spokesman for County Prosecutor Bill Mason.
A county grand jury returned the indictments late Tuesday, nearly six months after the woman filed a lawsuit accusing Ganley of grabbing her from behind, wrapping his arms around her, kissing her and reaching into her pants during a meeting at one of his dealerships.
In October, while challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton, a Copley Township Democrat, Ganley called the allegations "lies, slander and false." He characterized the woman as an instrument of the Democratic Party bent on derailing his campaign.
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He lost the Nov. 2 election.
One of his attorneys, Brent Buckley, said Ganley maintains his innocence and denies the allegations as he has since the allegations were first made.
"We've cooperated with law enforcement and supplied information, and frankly we're surprised that the decision was made to proceed with the indictment," Buckley said.
"In the end, Tom Ganley refused to write a check to buy silence here. It was not a financial decision, it was an integrity point of view for Mr. Ganley and it was a check he couldn't write."
The woman's lawyer, Ed Heben, commended the thoroughness of the investigation by Cleveland detectives and the county prosecutor. He also said his client welcomed the indictments.
"My client feels somewhat vindicated already that the grand jury had the faith and belief that these allegations appeared to be true and that somebody's business and political stature did not effect the efficiency of the investigation," he said. "We believe all of the charges will be proven true."
The woman, a married mother of four children, had volunteered to work on Ganley's campaign after she heard him speak at a Tea Party rally in downtown Cleveland in 2009, according to her lawsuit.
She later met Ganley at his Chevrolet dealership on Lorain Avenue, where she said he solicited sex from her, Miday said.
In exchange, she said in the lawsuit, Ganley offered to lower the interest rates on a van she bought from his dealership, to repair her van for free, and to give her a job at one of his dealerships.
Her lawsuit accused Ganley of making threatening calls after the encounter at the dealership. Miday said the calls resulted in the menacing-by-stalking charge.
Heben said the woman didn't report her allegations to police until October 2010 because she feared no one would believe her, due partly to Ganley's close ties to law enforcement.
Ganley runs Crime Stoppers of Northern Ohio, and is well known for having helped the FBI with an organized crime investigation.
Asked Tuesday about the length of the police investigation, Miday said, "Some cases take longer than others."
Ganley's attorneys and Hebentried for months to reach an out-of-court settlement, and held mediation hearings, but failed to agree on a deal.
Ganley has been married to his wife, Lois, for 45 years. They live in Brecksville and have four children and eight grandchildren.
Another woman also accused Ganley of sexual misconduct after the Cleveland woman went public with her story. A 50-year-old woman from Broadview Heights told Cleveland police that Ganley grabbed her inappropriately five years ago during a visit to his Chevrolet dealership.
Ganley has not been charged with any crime involving the Broadview Heights woman.
Ganley's son, Ken, vice president of the Ganley Automotive Group, said in a prepared statement:
"Our entire family stands behind my father during this difficult time. We hope Dad's record of community service, business leadership and dedication to our thousands of customers will speak to his true character."