Mayra Flores Must Answer For Why She Hired a Known Sexual Predator

Texas Public Radio reported new, disturbing details that Mayra Flores’s recent district director, Aron Peña, is accused of sexual harassment and abuse spanning nearly two decades – raising, with more urgency, questions about why Flores hired him to her official side staff after he was investigated for sexual harassment under a previous employer.

The Texas Public Radio piece details an alleged decades-long pattern of Peña harassing, threatening, and abusing teenage girls – some under the age of 18 – while leveraging his influence in the political sphere to keep them from speaking up. As TPR reports:

“Over the span of almost two decades, Peña continued to move up in Rio Grande Valley politics, despite repeated accusations of sexually harassing, grooming and assaulting young women.

“Accusations against Peña continued surfacing. However, he was allowed to hold powerful positions where he could access and exploit his authority over teenage girls and young women.

“This indifference and inaction, said Stephanie, is what made her decide to speak up after so many years of fearing what he and his family would do if she did.”

Flores’ campaign and office did not respond to Texas Public Radio’s requests for comment. And Texas Tribune reported that “Flores is close to the family. Peña-Garza helped give Flores her start in politics by hiring her as Hispanic outreach chair for the party.”

“Mayra Flores needs to answer why she hired someone who has a decades-long pattern of alleged abuse and harassment of teenage girls,” said DCCC spokesperson Monica Robinson. “Her silence as reporting reveals the horrific details of the accusations against Aron Peña is despicable.”

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