Thursday, September 19, 2002
Page 7
AFFAIRS OF STATE (Column)
Garamendi Boasts About Sex Offender’s Endorsement
By DAVID KLINE
It isn’t often that a political candidate brags about being endorsed by a convicted child-molester, but that’s exactly what John Garamendi is doing in his campaign for insurance commissioner.
The Democratic candidate has been playing up an endorsement from Peter Yarrow, the folk singer famous for being one-third of Peter, Paul and Mary—and infamous for serving time for getting naked with a 14-year-old girl.
Yarrow performed this month at a fundraiser at Garamendi’s ranch in the foothills. Garamendi made sure to alert the press with a notice under the headline, “Legendary Folk Singer of Peter, Paul & Mary Supporting Garamendi’s Re-Election Bid.” (It was a repeat performance, as Yarrow played guitar and sang at the ranch one year ago, too.)
And Garamendi’s Web site boasts an endorsement from the sex offender known for singing about magic dragons. A letter from Yarrow, prominently displayed on the site, says, “I am honored to join you as part of perhaps the most caring group of supporters of anyone that I have ever known who is running for political office.”
Caring—and forgiving, too. The Garamendi folks are willing to publicly embrace the singer, despite his rap sheet that might not sit well with some voters.
In 1970, Yarrow pleaded guilty to taking “immoral and improper liberties with ... a female child ... with the intent of arousing ... gratifying the lust, passions and sexual desires ...”
At the time of the crime in Washington, D.C., Yarrow was 30 years old and the girl was a mere 14. If that’s not bad enough, her 17-year-old sister was in the room watching the hanky-panky, according to an Associated Press report on his guilty plea.
“According to the victim’s statement ... , Yarrow who was in Washington on a concert tour, admitted the girl and her 17-year-old sister to his hotel room,” the story says. “Yarrow was reportedly naked when he answered the door.”
The AP report continues:
“Later Yarrow reiterated the couple’s actions were by mutual consent while the older girl looked on.”
The singer spent three months in jail for his offense, and also underwent psychiatric treatment, his attorney told the Associated Press.
Luckily for the folk singer, he had a friend in a very high place. President Jimmy Carter pardoned Yarrow the day before leaving office, thereby protecting the singer from ever having to register as a sex offender.
Yarrow has described the incident as “the most terrible mistake I have ever made,” and in his petition for the presidential pardon, he said he hoped his children “will see a balanced picture, one that understands that their daddy did something very wrong but also one that asserts that their daddy has also done much for society to eliminate want and inequality where he saw it.”
Carter’s acceptance of that explanation helped Yarrow quite a bit, since many of the singer’s later activities involved children around the age of 14.
Last year, for example, Yarrow came to Sacramento as a guest of the state Department of Education to promote his campaign against bullying, taunting and disrespect in the schools.
In his defense, Yarrow apparently has made it through the last three decades without approaching any more junior high girls, and Garamendi appears comfortable allowing Yarrow in the company of his six grandchildren, so the singer is not exactly a sexual predator.
But it certainly is unique to have a major political candidate trying to attract votes by highlighting support from a sex offender who needed a presidential pardon to restore his own voting rights.
— Capitol News Service
Copyright 2002, Metropolitan News Company