Source: Sex Assault Program Cited in Monegan Firing Targeted Child AbusersSo Sarah Palin’s latest explanation for why she fired Walt Monegan is that he had gone over her head in seeking federal money for an initiative to combat sexual assault crimes, before she had approved the program.
But it now appears that the program in question is one that most elected officials would be wary of admitting they hadn’t strongly backed. According to Peggy Brown, who heads the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, Monegan wanted to use the federal money to hire retired troopers and law enforcement officials, and assign them to investigate the most egregious cases of sexual assault — including those against children.
In other words, if Palin’s new story is true, she fired Monegan for being too aggressive in going after child molesters.
ABC News reported yesterday that, although Alaska leads the nation in reported rapes per capita, Palin hasn’t made the issue a priority as governor.
Monegan, however, appeared eager to change that. “He seemed to get the issue and really took it seriously,” Brown told TPMmuckraker.
According to the Palin camp, too seriously.