A New Hampshire state lawmaker who sits on the House Children and Family Law committee was arrested Tuesday and arraigned Wednesday for attempting to lure a 14-year-old girl into a sexual encounter.
Law enforcement said Republican Rep. Kyle Tasker sent sexually oriented messages to a teenage girl and arranged to meet her on a beach on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. However, police had taken control of the girl’s social media account and met Tasker on the beach instead. Tasker sent some inappropriate messages to the girl during a House committee meeting, according to the AP.
Tasker has made national headlines before for inappropriate comments. In 2014, he asked “likes/dislikes of the black caucus that precludes white people from joining,” noting that he was “fond” of rap music. He also posted a domestic violence joke to Facebook that read, “50,000 battered women and I still eat mine plain!”
Police began investigating Tasker when the 14-year-old girl’s mother told law enforcement that Tasker had sent inappropriate messages. The mother told police that Tasker offered the girl alcohol and marijuana and proposed a three-way sexual encounter, according to the AP.
Law enforcement also found drugs in Tasker’s home, including marijuana baked into brownies and mushrooms, according to the AP.
New Hampshire House Speaker Shawn Jasper (R) has asked Tasker to resign, according to CBS News.
“Representative Tasker is facing serious charges that, if true, are beyond the bounds of human decency. It is clear that given the seriousness of these allegations, Rep. Tasker will be unable to represent his constituents effectively, and should resign immediately,” Jasper said in a statement. “This morning I issued a letter immediately removing him from his assignment on the House Children and Family Law committee. While only Rep. Tasker can make the decision to resign from his seat, the House does have the ability to remove him.”
Jennifer Horn, the chair of the New Hampshire Republican Party, has also called on Tasker to resign.
