Police report: Former Arizona lawmaker paid boys for sex in 1980s

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PHOENIX (FOX 10/AP) -- A 1983 Baltimore police report shows that an Arizona lawmaker who resigned on Wednesday was accused of paying boys for sex in the 1980s.

The report was included in investigative files released Friday by the House Ethics Committee, which was investigating the sex charges and Rep. David Stringer's remarks on race and immigration.

The police report says a boy told detectives Stringer approached him and a friend at a park, took them to his apartment and paid them $10 apiece for sex. The police report, which redated the names of the boys, was written in August 1983. In the report, one of the boys said since the first encounter, he was back to see Stringer at least 10 additional times, and said during each of the subsequent encounters, sex act was performed with Stringer. The last encounter happened in July of 1983.

Stringer, according to a document from Baltimore Police Department dated September 16, 1983, turned himself in on that day, as an arrest warrant was out on him for various sex crimes-related allegations.

Some of the victims are listed as teenagers in police documents, with one listed as a 13-year-old. Another is listed as being under 15 years of age at the time of the incident, and described as "mentally defective or mentally incapacitated".

Stringer's lawyer, Carmen Chenal, has said he was never convicted of a crime, and that charges were later expunged. The lawyer also said that Maryland law does not allow for disclosing of expunged records, and that the expunged records were shredded, three years after the records were expunged. However, court files released inadvertently to the Phoenix New Times suggest he was ordered to perform community service and enter a sexual disorder treatment program.

In a statement released Friday, Arizona State House Speaker Rusty Bowers said he asked for Stringer's resignation after he was shown the police report that the House Ethics Committee received via a public records request.

"The behavior described in Mr. Stringer's arrest report is absolutely appalling and sickening. I confronted Mr. Stringer with the information on Wednesday afternoon and again asked him to resign, which he finally did," House Speaker Bowers wrote.

Speaker Bowers and House Democratic Leader Charlene Fernandez later released a joint statement on the Stringer investigation.

"While we disagree on matters of policy every day, each of us regards our colleagues as friends and family. The shock and horror we felt when we learned the details in this report are indescribable, not just as elected officials but as parents. This is not about politics, it's about the safety and security of children. It will not be easy, but for the sake of our state, for children, and for this institution that we love, we must resolve to move forward from this. The public must know that we hold each other to the highest standards of character, and that they are safe and protected in the Arizona House of Representatives," read the statement.

State House Speaker Bowers and State Rep. Charlene Fernandez also held a joint news conference Friday afternoon on the scandal.

The Associated Press (AP) contributed to this report.