A candidate for mayor in a small Virginia town was arrested at the Trump Town USA store he owns less than two weeks before the election.
Donald “Whitey” Taylor, a 74-year-old running for mayor in the 250-person town of Boones Mill, was arrested on Tuesday and now faces four misdemeanor charges: three counts of assault and battery and one count of indecent exposure, court records show. He owns a store that sells pro- Trump merchandise.
The complaints stem from three women who all worked at the store. One woman claimed that in September, Taylor had asked her to go to the back of the store, where he exposed himself while sitting in a swivel chair and asked her for oral sex, the report claims.
The woman alleged that her boss also pressured her into staying at his apartment, as he had made dinner for them.
Then, in October, before giving the woman her paycheck, Taylor allegedly groped her buttocks, the documents say.
“I struggled to get away,” she said. “He has repeatedly sexually, mentally, emotionally, physically, and verbally harassed me.”
Days later, a second woman alleged that Taylor grabbed her arm and “shoved his hand” into her pants. He prevented her from leaving the back of the store, she alleged.
This woman also claimed that for years before this incident, her boss had made inappropriate remarks toward her. “The assault and emotional distress I have endured from 2022-2024 has gone on long enough,” the court documents say, according to WDBJ7.
Three days after the second incident, a third woman claimed that at the back of the store, when she requested her paycheck, he handed it to her before he asked her for a hug and grabbed her breast. The store owner then made a sexual comment about his employee’s body, she claimed.
Taylor wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday that he believes the claims are driven by politics: “Hey guys, all this you’re seeing on the news is fake news election interference for my mayor election. I’m going after the misappropriation of funds in BoonesMill. The worst of any small town in the USA, population of 278.”
Taylor, who has vowed to “Make Boones Mill Great Again” if elected, was released on his own recognizance, court records show. His arraignment is scheduled for October 30 in Franklin County General District Court.
The Independent has contacted Taylor for comment.
