Former Virginia Del. Joe Morrissey spent weeks playing coy after his teenage ex-secretary — whom he was accused of having a sexual relationship with when she was 17 years old — gave birth to a baby boy in March.
But on Wednesday, Morrissey confirmed that he is the father.
Morrissey told local radio host Jack Gravely that his girlfriend Myrna Pride’s 9-month old baby, Chase, was his son.
“I am as engaged in Chase’s life as a man could be. I’m super proud of Myrna and I love Chase,” Morrissey said, as quoted by WWBT. “Chase is my blood. We had our baby, we love our baby.”
Morrissey has had a roller coaster of a year. He was sentenced to six months in jail in December for a misdemeanor conviction related to a sexual relationship he allegedly had with Pride, his law office’s former receptionist, when she was a minor. Then, on daytime work release from jail, he successfully campaigned as an independent to reclaim the House of Delegates seat he’d resigned during the sex scandal. Morrissey gave that seat up again in April to run later this year for the Virginia state Senate, first as a Democrat, then as an independent when the party rejected his signatures.
But since Chase was born, Morrissey seems to have had some fun with all the local media attention. Last week, Morrissey handed a personalized photo of himself, Pride and the baby dressed in period costumes to a WTVR reporter:
I was just handed this photo of Joe Morrissey — by Joe Morrissey. #BreakTheInternet pic.twitter.com/5H89jyX5ZT
— Joe St. George (@JoeStGeorge) May 14, 2015
And the back of the photo Joe Morrissey handed @JoeStGeorge, complete with personalized note. pic.twitter.com/djS7dg3gLZ
— Scott Wise (@Scott_Wise) May 14, 2015
At the time, when the WTVR reporter asked Morrissey whether the photo was his way of confirming that he was the father of Pride’s son, the former delegate answered “no.”
This post has been updated to clarify that Morrissey is no longer affiliated with the state Democratic Party.
This guy needs to be arrested and jailed. IMHO this clown is a pedophile.
Middle aged stupid caught him.
Unless he’s wealthy it won’t last.
That good ol’ plantation days photo affirms a whole lot more than Morrissey probably thought.
Has kind of a Strom-Thurmondy vibe to it, donnit?
Eventually, Dudley Do-Right will catch Snidely Whiplash and put him in stripes.