352: Michael Silvestri – Republican Sexual Predators

Michael Silvestri had run for mayor of Trenton, New Jersey, and for freeholder position, an archaic title for county elected officials. (It’s been eliminated as of January 2021.) In 2018, he ran for state assembly and was accused of sexual harassment and sexual assault by a campaign worker.

She claims to have been assaulted by Silvestri and sent a dick pic. When she reported it, she was fired and then menaced by David Henderson, the campaign manager and county GOP chair. The police did not investigate until the media reported the story with the dick pic pixelated. Even though it was pixelated, Silvestri filed a police complaint claiming to be a victim of revenge porn.

This is definitely one of those cases that demonstrate why women do not report assaults. The campaign work filed a police report but they seem to have ignored it until NJ101.5 published a story, which prompted the police to subpoena the station. A co-worker confirmed the harassment and urged her to complain to Henderson. The woman also provided the texts that Silvestri sent her to corroborate her allegations.

Nonetheless, the local Republican leadership is calling her a liar, the Trentonian frames the story as though she is attention-seeking and lying. Silvestri claims he’s a victim and that they had an intimate consensual relationship. She’s named in the media and the police investigate his complaint, but not hers. You can see how ridiculous the media coverage is in the final story below. A rape claim is not a soap opera. The story covers how hard the police worked to investigate her in response to his complaint of revenge porn. The final sentence: “Her sex assault claims are still be examined.”