Klaudt had to exit the state legislature in 2006 due to term limits, after having a lost a battle for state senate in that same year--but he sure had a doozie of a time while he was there. I learned of this particular piece of distasteful debauchery from Howie Klein's fantastic post on the subject at his blog Down With Tyranny. As Klein says:

Like so many tightly wound repressed and mentally ill Republicans, Klaudt was preaching the moral superiority of the far right while he was abusing molesting children-- his own foster daughters and 2 state legislative pages! He "faces a long list of charges: eight counts of rape, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of witness tampering, sexual contact with a person under 16, and stalking." emphasis added

Yeah, that's right: eight counts of rape, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, two ocunts of witness tampering, sexual contact with a person under 16, and stalking. And just what was this guy doing to rack up all these charges? Well, according to KeloLand in Sioux Falls, he apparently "played doctor" with kids at a foster home he himself was running:

In the most disturbing accusation, the girls say Klaudt had them convinced they could earn up to $20,000 by donating their eggs to a fertility clinic. And even though he has no medical training, the girls say Klaudt did all the supposed "exams" and "procedures" himself.... The victims say Klaudt touched them while they were foster children at his home here in Walker. But the girls say the molestation also happened in Pierre during legislative sessions while some of them also served as pages. Five different girls now say Klaudt did things ranging from manual "breast exams" to the painful procedure of actually going inside of them with a speculum and collecting body fluids. The girls say when they cried, Klaudt gave them a beer and told them to toughen up.

Yeah--this guy raped teenage foster children and pages in his care with a speculum, and then gave them beer to make them stop crying.

And what wonderful bills did this upstanding man of moral character sponsor during his time in the legislature?

A bill to establish a task force to study abortion and to provide for its composition, scope, and administration.

Two bills (here and here) to "prohibit the performance of abortions, except to save the life of the mother, and to provide a penalty therefor and to provide for a delayed effective date."

A bill to "support free religious expression in public schools": i.e., teach creationism.

A bill to deny gay marriage through an amendment to the state constitution.

A bill to revise certain provisions regarding the performance of abortions on unemancipated minors and those found to be incompetent.

Most ironically, we have this: a bill "Honoring Valerie Melmer for her outstanding commitment and dedication to the state legislative page program." Presumably for her ready provision of speculum-ready victims to Teddy himself.

Sounds like a guy with an unhealthy obsession with vaginas and underage girls to me. But I could be wrong.

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Perhaps all these Biblical literalists should read their own texts: the GOP is filled to the brim with lecherous men who punish our modern-day Susannas while taking advantage of them. There is something deeply disgusting about a man who attempts to restrict abortions for minors while pretending to harvest the eggs of 15-year-old girls with a speculum, and gives them beer afterwards. But there are no Daniels within the Republican Party to call out the hypocrisy, end the treachery, and punish the moralistic hypocrites. It will take a flood of Democrats to wash away the stain of sexually repressive ugliness brought on the Republican culture of hypocrisy and corruption.

Cross-posted at MLW and at There Is No Blog