Last week this blogger reported the unfortunate news about AC Transit’s Joel Young, and at his request, published his statement on the sex scandal involving he and his ex-girlfriend. This is what was written:
AC Transit Board Member Joel Young, considered by some a front-runner in the 2012 race to replace California Assembly District 16 legend Sandra Swanson should Young decide to enter the race, was accused of domestic violence in a sex scandal that was first reported by Indy Bay, then in this space….
What’s weird in this story where Young was rumored to have harmed his ex-girlfriend, and for which temporary restraining orders were filed each by one against the other, is that reports are that she caught him with another woman…. That’s a scenario that leaves a lot of questions unanswered, and caused this blogger to write…
What’s missing from this is just how did Young’s reportedly ex-girlfriend find him in bed with another woman? Did she have a key to his home? How did she know to walk in? Something’s missing here….
Well that “something’s missing” – that giant hole of information – was filled in by Young and his lawyer today, who, as a team, have come out swinging….
And this statement was posted: LINK.
Young’s ex-girlfriend contacted this blogger on her own and without previous contact about Young’s statement from this blogger, and asked that her statement – a direct response to Young’s words – be posted and with her name withheld.
Here it is:
Statement of Ex-Girlfriend of AC Transit’s Young:
The reason I sought a restraining order against Joel Young was to ensure my personal safety. Since March 7, 2011 I have wanted to reach a solution with Joel privately. On April 5, 2011, I thought we had come to such a resolution, when Joel communicated to my attorney that he had agreed to the following: (1) attend domestic violence classes; (2) pay for my medical expenses up to $10,000; and (3) agree to no direct or indirect contact with my person, place of business, vehicle, or residence.
Unfortunately, two days prior to the hearing of April 8th, I received Joel’s outrageous answer in which he escalated my petition for a restraining order into an attempt to humiliate me—and my family—with false and outlandish allegations. Joel also retaliated against me by requesting a restraining order—five weeks after the incident that caused me to seek protection from the court. Joel at no time filed a police report against me.
What began with the unhappy surprise of finding my boyfriend in bed with another woman has now morphed into an ugly saga in which Joel is desperately trying to salvage his political reputation with outrageous attempts to drag my character through the mud. As a result, I feel the need to respond to Joel’s lies and distortions to protect myself and my reputation as a woman and an attorney.
I began dating Joel in October of 2010. As our relationship developed, Joel repeatedly told me he loved me and asked me to live with him. I was open to Joel’s entreaties. Little did I know that Joel was incredibly dishonest. In fact, Joel’s last two girlfriends each believed they were in exclusive relationships with him for over a year. When in fact, Joel had been lying to each of them, dating both simultaneously, while also sleeping with the woman I found in Joel’s bed.
During the early morning hours of March 7th, 2011, I drove to Joel’s place to be with him. I was feeling sick after a long trip and felt the need to be close to him. I entered Joel’s apartment with keys he had given me and which I had used on countless occasions. Upon entering, I found Joel in bed with another woman. In shock, I reacted by immediately slapping Joel, which I admit was a mistake.
As the woman in Joel’s bed immediately exited the bedroom, Joel attacked me, striking me in the face, then grabbing me by the hair and violently and repeatedly pounding my head into the bed.
The injuries Joel inflicted on my face and scalp were enough to send me to a CAT scan because of a suspected eye socket fracture. I had bruising and swelling on and around my eye, eyelid, temple and forehead, as well as a red scalp. Evidence of my injuries are contained in the UCSF medical report, and in pictures and declarations from various witnesses who confirmed my physical injuries to the court.
Joel’s claim that he merely pinned me down on his bed is false. Joel’s claim that I repeatedly punched him on his face, neck and/or shoulders is also false. In fact, a friend of Joel’s who saw him on March 8th, the day after the incident was in court at the last hearing prepared to testify that Joel did not have any bruising, swelling, scratches, and/or injuries.
Joel’s claim that I attacked the woman in his bed is also false. Concerned about my health, I asked the woman twice how long they had been sleeping together and when she told me she did not know how to exit the building, I gave her directions. The woman was extremely apologetic during the episode, saying she did not know that Joel had a girlfriend. That was the extent of it.
As an AC Transit Commissioner, many people in the community looked to Joel as a replacement for termed-out Assemblyman Sandre Swanson. Unfortunately, the political calculus that has entered into this dispute has raised the stakes—Joel will apparently stop at nothing to protect his political reputation. Joel has turned it around in the public sphere and painted himself as the victim of domestic violence.
When a former Division I football player ferociously hits a woman in the face, removes a large quantity of hair from her head and sends her to the hospital, and then turns around and claims he himself to be the victim, hypocrisy has a new standard.
At the last hearing, Joel’s laughter while he was in judge’s chambers behind closed doors was audible to me and my family from across the courtroom. This, as well as Joel’s response in this paper, is insulting and shows that Joel lacks remorse and does not respect the seriousness of domestic violence.
This has been an extremely difficult experience and I have struggled with how to heal from this violent ordeal and revive myself from this dark episode. I have contemplated dropping the request for a restraining order and just getting on with my life. But having my character impugned in the public sphere is unacceptable, and I will not continue to stand by and accept the further abuse Joel is hurling at me in a desperate attempt to salvage his political career.
To repeat my message of before:
And on that note, comments on this at SFGate.com or any Zennie62Media blog will not be allowed. There have been attempts to put the woman’s true name out in public against her wishes and using the comment section. That simply will not be allowed to happened again in this space.
And some have asked why I elected to use the term “sex scandal” rather than the other more incendiary terms used. Simply because the issue was never decided in such a way by a court of law.
Over and out.
Bill Carroll