A dispute that started on Facebook between a Glendale man and state Rep. Kelly Townsend has grown increasingly personal.

The man, Patrick Mannion, has tried to get the Attorney General's Office involved, claiming Townsend, R-Mesa, was trying to extort him.

Townsend, meanwhile, has called the man's employer to inform the company of his Facebook politics.

It all started May 23, when Mannion wrote — in a now-deleted post on Facebook — that Townsend and another lawmaker "favor child molesters." That accusation stemmed from their comments toward another lawmaker.

At the time, Sen. Paul Boyer, R-Phoenix, was holding up state budget bills because he wanted in increase the statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual assault.

The bill eventually passed both houses unanimously.

Townsend and Rep. Ben Toma, R-Peoria, were captured on a microphone discussing retribution for Boyer and other holdouts on the budget.

Mannion's Facebook post criticized Townsend and Toma for their words.

"Ben Toma and Kelly Townsend favor child molesters and their right not to be sued by their victims once they've recovered — or even fully realized they've been victimized," he wrote on Facebook. "Ben and Kelly would rather stand with child molesters than approve the state budget. And they'll kill the bills of any AZ state legislators that DO stand against child molesters."

Townsend: 'That was too low'

Townsend was not having it.

"Other people just brush it off," Townsend said Tuesday in an interview. "That was too low. I will take action. If people don’t like that action, too bad."

With a little online research she found Mannion worked for Spear Education, a dentistry school, and she called their human resources department.

"I wanted his employment to know exactly what he was doing," Townsend said, adding that she also wanted to speak to Mannion to demand an apology.

"I would like to know why he felt he needed to go to such lows to lobby somebody who would have voted for this in the first place."

She took a screenshot of Mannion's post and shared it on her own Facebook page.

"Mr. Mannion, it is in your best interest that you issue a public apology immediately for both me and Representative Ben Toma," Townsend wrote on Facebook.

After Mannion learned Townsend called his work, he wrote a complaint to the Attorney General's Office, which declined to intervene.

"Her threat was so immediately upsetting to me, that I couldn’t adequately process it," Mannion wrote to the Attorney General's Office.

"I believe this Arizona House member illegally attempted to extort me by threatening damage to my career, and when I didn’t comply — or comply quickly enough for her tastes, she attempted to have me fired by abusing her position as a legislator to intimidate my employer into firing me."

The Attorney General's Office sent a response from a duty agent suggesting Mannion's complaint was better addressed by local police.

'He picked the wrong legislator'

While Mannion deleted his post that offended Townsend, she took a screenshot of it and continues to post it on her page, demanding an apology.

She ultimately voted for the bill in question and said she obviously never supported sexual abusers. Her initial hesitance on the bill had to do with protecting people from frivolous lawsuits, and she said changes to the bill addressed her concerns.

"I’m all about protecting children," Townsend said. "That doesn't mean out of pure emotion I’m going to vote on language that puts others at risk of frivolous lawsuits."

Townsend continued. "This man is lobbying for a bill with the most disgusting tactics ever. I’ve never seen something so low. ... He picked the wrong legislator."

Reach reporter Ryan Randazzo at ryan.randazzo@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4331. Follow him on Twitter @UtilityReporter.

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