The House is investigating a series of incidents Monday night in which a House member is accused of being intoxicated and inappropriately hugging a teenage page.
State Rep. Cary Allred, a Burlington Republican, denied in an interview Thursday any inappropriate behavior or being intoxicated. The page was a family friend and Allred said he hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.
Allred said that he remembers having one cocktail before leaving for Monday night's House session.
"That's all I remember," Allred said.
Allred was also stopped for speeding on the way to the House Monday afternoon. Allred said he was asked to produce identification beyond his drivers license and he showed the trooper his legislative ID. The trooper let Allred go with an admonishment to slow down, Allred said.
Allred said he is the subject of a "witch-hunt" because he is outspoken and frequently challenges House Speaker Joe Hackney.
"I think it's an effort to embarrass me because I am a conservative Republican from Alamance County, and he's a liberal Democrat from Chapel Hill," Allred said.
More after the jump.
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Hackney said he received various reports of the speeding incident, drinking by Allred and an "embrace" with a page. He asked the House sergeant at arms to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the matter.
"Speeding is not in my jurisdiction but the other two incidents it appear have to do with conduct on the House floor. I have simply asked the House sergeant-at-at arms, who is in charge of the House floor together with me to conduct what i would characterize as a preliminary inquiry to gather whatever facts there are to determine if any referral beyond this stage is appropriate," Hackney said.
Hackney is a Democrat. Republican House leader Paul Stam is aware of the investigation and has been kept in the lop on developments.
"We are having conversations and discussions about it," Stam said.
As the House Session wound to a close Thursday, Allred told House members that he was proud of having sponsored the 17-year-old page.
"She's like my granddaughter," Allred said.
The next step would be to determine whether the incident should be referred to the House's ethics panel.
Comments
Re: House investigating Allred
May 1, 2009 - 10:09am — bniolet (author)Inappropriate comment deleted. — BN
Re: House investigating Allred
May 1, 2009 - 9:42am — ryanteaguebeckwithAnswer here.
— RTB
Re: House investigating Allred
May 1, 2009 - 8:51am — CitizenOpinionatedSo I see this as two separate incidents.
Allred hugged a page. He sponsored this page and was family friends according to him. I see nothing wrong with this and I would like to know why a hug is inappropriate. Can someone please clarify?
Did this happen in private or in the plain sight of everyone?
That is the same as the a teacher hugging a student on the last day of classes.
The second issue is the speeding.
Perhaps he should have gotten a ticket or not, we do not have the information and everything at this point is speculation. Thus no need for the brain trust that is BLUE NC to make this into more than it is.
Let's talk about Hagan's husband suing the state of NC...that is an issue that does affect us all...
This does not and is dismal in comparison to Black, Boseman, Wright, so forth and so on....
This Is Just a Little Peyton Place...
April 30, 2009 - 7:04pm — Cicero02...Welcome to Hackney Valley....It just happened that the General Assembly was gonna meet that very afternoon.....And they were sure surprised when Rep. Allred wore his legislative ID into the room...And as he walked up to the microphone, I still recall the words he had to say....He said that I'd like to address this meeting of the Hackney Valley House GA.....Well, there's [fill in Democrat legislator's name] sittin' there, and seven times he's asked me for a date....And [FIDLN] seems to use a lotta eyes, whenever he's away....And [fill in Dem's name] can you tell us why your secretary had to leave this town?....And shouldn't the widow legislator [fill in Dem's name] be told to keep her window shades pulled completely down....Well [fill in Dem legislator's name] couldn't be here cause he stayed too long at Kelly's Bar again....And if you smell [FIDLN] breath you'll find she's had a little nip of gin....AND YOU THEN HAVE THE NERVE TO TELL ME, THAT YOU THINK AS A LEGISLATOR I'M NOT FIT!....Well this is just a little Peyton Place, and you're all House Speaker Hackney Valley hypocrites. {Ahhh. Where is Jeannie C. Riley when we need her?}
Re: House investigating Allred
April 30, 2009 - 5:19pm — bniolet (author)Error fixed. Welcome to the Dome copy desk. -- Ben Niolet
Re: House investigating Allred
April 30, 2009 - 5:05pm — patmacgroine69The proofreader was let go in layoffs several months ago.
Rule #1
April 30, 2009 - 4:16pm — avg_joeAllred apparently forgot rule #1 for North Carolina House members:
No bending over the pages!!!
Re: House investigating Allred
April 30, 2009 - 4:04pm — raphael182What the heck does this sentence mean:
Allred was also stopped for speeding on the way to the House's Monday afternoon
And where is the proofreader?
Not partisan, but definitely personal
April 30, 2009 - 3:58pm — James_ProtzmanI'm an equal opportunity critic of Republicans and Democrats alike, as you should well know.
And as to the issue of personal? I suppose I am guilty. A drunk driver speeding ... no matter where he or she is going ... is something I take very personally. You should too.
Can legislators legally drive drunk on their way to work? Somehow I doubt it. Speeding is not the problem ... drinking and driving is the problem.
Re: House investigating Allred
April 30, 2009 - 3:33pm — ImpartiallyObservantFirst, I question the assertion by a commenter here that NC legislators are exempt from speeding laws if going to/from sessions.
And if it *is* true, then Mr. Hackney's first move needs to be to repeal such a ridiculous statute. Speeding laws aren't in place to protect the speeders from harm so much as to protect other motorists from harm, and no legislative matter is worth someone's life or limb.
As for Mr. Allred, his only legitimate response should be to apologize to the page, his fellow House members and the citizens of the state of North Carolina. And Mr. Hackney, in turn, should figure out a way to *require* him to seek alcohol counseling.
Mr. Allred only "remembers" having one drink... Interesting. I've been around enough drunks to recognize this as a classic evasion. He's not denying he drank more -- because he *knows* he drank more!!
Re: House investigating Allred
April 30, 2009 - 2:58pm — ncoldsaltNow I am beginning to understand how and why North Carolina is in such a mess. Our leaders/employees drink before reporting to work!
Before all you SEs &Ts get all worked up, must of us know not all of you do this. And, we will not even begin to touch on all those medicated ones.
LOL, here we go again with our own version of Sex in the City.
Re: House investigating Allred
April 30, 2009 - 2:54pm — ThomasPaineI'm sure it is a big conspiracy. I'm sure someone held him down and poured liquor down his throat. I'm sure the teen girl was asking for it. I'm sure someone else put their foot on his excellerator. Yep -liberial conspiracy if I've ever seen one -- Mr. Allred. All that's missing... is some 'toe tapping' in a men's airport bathroom.
Re: House investigating Allred
April 30, 2009 - 2:46pm — cthayes75James,
Apparently you are not familiar with the NC law that says speeding laws do not apply to members of the NC General Assembly if they are going to or from session.
But why should the facts get in the way of your partisan, personal attacks.
That's all I remember!
April 30, 2009 - 2:41pm — James_ProtzmanHahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
No wonder the GOP can't accomplish anything.
Poor Cary. I wonder whether his constituents appreciate him getting a pass instead of a speeding ticket. And why did the trooper ask for more ID beyond a driver's license? I've never heard of that happening. Sounds like All Red is making up a fish story to 'splain why he used his elected status to get a break from the highway patrol.