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Assemblyman Dante Acosta, R-Santa Clarita, strongly opposed Gov. Jerry Brown’s naming of Xavier Becerra as attorney general.
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Update: 38th District Candidate Denies Sexual Harassment Allegation

Text messages released from the Acosta campaign can be located at the bottom of the article

An email from a campaign manager for a former Republican 38th District candidate alleges harassment by another 38th District GOP candidate as SCV voters prepare to go to the polls.


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The email alleges Santa Clarita City Councilman Dante Acosta, who’s running for the seat held by Assemblyman Scott Wilk, met the woman to discuss her political career, and then proceeded to ask her out, according to a leaked correspondence first published on Santa Clarita blog Sclarita.

“The allegations contained in the email to Vanessa Wilk are true. I am saddened that instead of coming clean, Dante chose instead to accuse me of lying and of having an untrue and nefarious motive,” said Jennifer Van Laar, who declined to comment further for the time being.

Acosta denied the allegation in a statement to KHTS AM-1220 on Wednesday, noting his meeting with the accuser, who works in politics, was intended to discuss an opportunity for her to run his campaign.

“The allegations against Dante Acosta are false and disproved by the Acosta Campaign, which has copies of the exchanges between Mr. Acosta and his accuser,” according to a statement sent out by his campaign. “This malicious attack is motivated by an accuser who had a motive to defame Mr. Acosta in retaliation to his decision not to hire her for his campaign for State Assembly.”

He also said he had emails and copies of the text that revealed no inappropriate behavior.

Neither party has revealed the contents of the texts beyond what has been published on the blog. KHTS has requested the full correspondence from both sides. The texts and emails should be available for publication shortly, according to Acosta’s campaign, which said was in the process of redacting information.

The accuser, who publicly revealed herself to KHTS AM-1220 for the first time, said she was not the source of the email leak, but stood by the content and accusations Wednesday. The emails, linked above, indicate Van Laar brought the complaint to several party members at the time.

Representatives from Acosta’s campaign said the charges were politically motivated in nature, and the Vanessa Wilk, who was also CC’ed on the email thread, denied the nature of the claims.

Acosta said Van Laar was seeking retribution because she chose a different campaign.

According to the Acosta campaign, Acosta confirms that those texts, and that phone call, were in relation to his decision to run for State Assembly, and the woman confirms in her email that Mr. Acosta was “texting me and calling me from the bar in Sacramento where he was talking to Santa Clarita people about whether he was going to run or not.”

Van Laar ended up running the campaign of Jarrod DeGonia, a Simi Valley Republican who worked as a field representative for Supervisor Michael Antonovich, and lost in the June Primary to Christy Smith and Acosta.

When reached for comment Wednesday, Vanessa Wilk said the allegations, which were initially brought to her a week before the primaries, made her “sick to her stomach,” but also added “it just didn’t ring true.”

“Because of the timing, I felt that it was politically motivated,” Vanessa Wilk said,”but I wasn’t sure. The request to not make the incident public was out of respect for Carolyn Acosta, because that was a big concern for me.”

Here’s the complete statement from the Acosta campaign, denying the charges:

“According to an email provided to the media, the source unknown, a woman, whose name was redacted, alleges that Mr. Acosta, a happily married father of three, made unwanted advances toward her.

The woman in question alleges that the behavior occurred in January 2015 in Washington, DC.  More than a year later, the woman encouraged Mr. Acosta to run for State Senate, and then State Assembly, and to retain her as his consultant.  She continued to communicate with him in person, telephonically, and text up until he filed to run.

She alleges on the evening of March 14, 2016, Mr. Acosta sent her inappropriate texts and phone calls.  A review of Mr. Acosta’s phone records show that the woman sent Acosta dozens of text messages, including the morning of March 15, 2016.  They also show that Mr. Acosta placed a phone call to her at 11:02 p.m.  That call was made in the presence of Assemblyman Scott Wilk, and his wife, Vanessa.  The call lasted six minutes and the woman claims that call included inappropriate sexual behavior.

Mr. Acosta confirms that those texts, and that phone call, were in relation to his decision to run for State Assembly, and the woman confirms in her email that Mr. Acosta was “texting me and calling me from the bar in Sacramento where he was talking to Santa Clarita people about whether he was going to run or not.”

He chose not to hire the woman in question, choosing a more experienced firm, and she then went to work for one of his opponents.  While the woman actively encouraged Mr. Acosta to run, and aggressively pursued him as a client, she waited one and a half years before telling anyone about these allegations – four days before the June 6 Primary Election. The release of the email occurs just 13 days before the General Election.  Clearly these acts are politically motivated.

Further, the Acosta Campaign has copies of the text and there is not one text that shows any inappropriate behavior.

This woman’s motives are clearly retaliatory to Mr. Acosta’s decision not to hire her to work on his campaign, and further motivated by her involvement in a very contentious primary election in which she worked for his opponent.

The Acosta Campaign can provide copies of phone and text records, as well as copies of the text messages to interested media upon request.

This is a breaking news story and more information will be added as it becomes available.

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KHTS AM 1220 - Santa Clarita Radio

Update: 38th District Candidate Denies Sexual Harassment Allegation

5 comments

  1. I have supported Dante Acosta in the past. I stand by him today. I will stand with him and support him in the future.

    Nothing has changed. Dante is still the best qualified and most dedicated person/candidate for our community. There is no basis nor foundation to these allegations.

    Prayers and blessings for Dante and the Acosta family. They’ll get through this. God bless and take care.

  2. I cannot stand it when people come out of the woodwork. True or not it should have been dealt with back then. Im not defending or accusing.. i am just saying this is convenient timing.

  3. I believe him. In less than 24 hours he turned over 36 screen shots of text messages to/from her. I read every one. See how on Image 31, she says “Don’t underestimate me”.

    So now, this Jennifer person needs to turn over her screen shots. If she takes too long, it means she is doctoring them, as she did the emails. Do you know how easy it is to fake emails, and make screen shots of them? A lot easier than doctoring 36 cell phone screen shots. If she REALLY wants to PROVE it, then turn over the email headers, let the pros do some forensics and check the validity.

  4. I have know Dante and his beautiful family for many, many years. This is ridiculous, prove your allegations, then come out with it. I heard the accuser did not want to come forward because she did not want to hurt Carolyn. Really, timing is everything. Stop this stupid stuff, and focus on who is best for the job. Love you Acosta family. Stay Strong.

  5. In school districts and responsible companies, allegations such as this would require an investigation. My former school district and those which I have consulted in since my retirement would bring in an impartial third party to conduct the investigation. That doesn’t appear to have happened in this case. So we are left with “he said, she said.”
    In this case, a woman who was a Republican operative and radio commentator, with what seems like a lot to lose in her chosen professions, comes forward and speaks out. Why would she do that? Why would she invite the usual irrational scorn that a woman coming forward faces? Are we seeing party over decency here?
    In the presidential race we are hearing, “These things never happened.” Was that the right way to deal with this case too?

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About Perry Smith

Perry Smith is a print and broadcast journalist who has won several awards for his focused, hyperlocal community coverage in several different regions of the country. In addition to five years of experience covering the Santa Clarita Valley, Smith, a San Fernando Valley native, has worked in newspapers and news websites in Los Angeles, the Northwest, the Central Valley and the South, before coming to KHTS in 2012. To contact Smith, email him at Perry@hometownstation.com.