TPMMuckraker

Anti-Gay Marriage State Rep. Accused Of Offering Young Male Money ‘For A Really Good Time’

Rep. Phillip Hinkle (R-IN)

An Indiana state Representative, who recently voted for a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage, has been accused of using Craigslist to offer an 18-year old male $80 for “a couple hours of your time tonight” plus a tip “for a really good time.”

The Indianapolis Star obtained e-mails sent from Rep. Phillip Hinkle’s (R) publicly listed personal address, responding to a Craigslist posting by Kameryn Gibson that said “I need a sugga daddy.” Gibson told the Star that the post was in the “Casual Encounters” section under m4m, or men for men. He used his sister Megan’s e-mail address — and she later sent the e-mails to the Star.

“Cannot be a long time sugar daddy,” says the e-mail response from what is allegedly Hinkle’s address, “but can for tonight. Would you be interested in keeping me company for a while tonight?”

“I am an in shape married professional, 5’8”, fit 170 lbs, and love getting and staying naked,” the e-mail says.

Another e-mail says: “If u want to consider spending night u might tell ur sis so she won’t worry. Would have u back before 11 tomorrow. No extra cash just free breakfast and maybe late night snack.”

The Star reports:

The young man told The Star that they met, but that he tried to leave after the man told him he was a state lawmaker. He said the lawmaker at first told him he could not leave, grabbed him in the rear, exposed himself to the young man and then later gave him an iPad, BlackBerry cellphone and $100 cash to keep quiet.

Gibson had his sister pick him up, who says that she then received a number of calls, and one was from a woman who claimed she is Hinkle’s wife. “I was like, ‘Your husband is gay,’” Megan Gibson said. “And then she was like, ‘You have the wrong person.’” When Gibson reportedly read back the e-mail address used for the Craigslist ad, the woman asked her not to call the police.

Megan Gibson told the Star that later that evening she went back to the JW Marriott to show Hinkle’s daughter the e-mails. She soon after received another phone call from the woman claiming to be Hinkle’s wife, who offered her $10,000 not to tell anyone. Still another call came from Hinkle himself later, and she told him what she had told his family members. “You just ruined me,” she says Hinkle responded.

Hinkle did not deny the e-mails in response to the Star’s request for comment, but said: “I am aware of a shakedown taking place.” He did not elaborate on what “shakedown” meant, nor did his attorney.

Read the full report here.

Hinkle recently voted for an amendment (.pdf) to the state’s constitution that would define marriage as between a man and a woman.

Late Update: Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) weighed in on the allegations on Friday, telling reporters that he is “sad about it.”

“It’s not for me to say [whether Hinkle should resign],” Daniels said. “It’s for him and his constituents. It’s just a personal family tragedy.”

Craigslist, Indiana, Phillip Hinkle
Jillian Rayfield

Jillian Rayfield is a Reporter/Blogger for TPM, and started as a News Intern in May 2009. She graduated from Cornell University in May 2008 with a degree in Film, and worked as a Research Assistant for a market research firm in London in between.

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