Former Arizona Rep. David Stringer's views on child sex trafficking were captured in a video released as part of the House of Representatives' investigation into his past.

In the recording, Stringer states that he doesn't "like to demonize" child sex trafficking and jokes that there are "a lot of 15-year-old prostitutes."

The video was recorded during a Republican Women of Prescott meeting on May 18, 2018. It captures a conversation Stringer had with Merissa Hamilton, an activist who works to protect child victims of trafficking; they were seated next to each other watching a speech from a Border Patrol agent.

Stringer resigned March 27 over accusations that he raped children in the 1980s. The video was obtained by investigators who reviewed ethics complaints about his sex-crime charges.

While Stringer claims he never was convicted, court records show he accepted a plea deal on some combination of charges and was sentenced to five years of supervised probation.

After the speech, Stringer allegedly defended child sex abuse during an argument he and Hamilton had in the parking lot.

Hamilton told investigators that Stringer said he didn't think there was any "damage" from child sex trafficking, saying, "If an uncle takes his niece or nephew to a playground, and they go on the merry-go-round and have some ice cream, and then do their thing, that’s just part of the experience."

She said Stringer told her they could "agree to disagree" when she insisted sex trafficking causes lifelong damage to children. She was "shaken" by the experience.

Stringer and his attorney, Carmen Chenal, didn't respond to requests for comment after the House Ethics Committee released a report Wednesday that included Hamilton's account of the conversation

Reach the reporter at dustin.gardiner@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-2471. Follow him on Twitter: @dustingardiner.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today. What are you waiting for?