The North Carolina Democratic Party is calling on Western North Carolina Republican Rep. Cody Henson to resign after a criminal summons was issued against him this week by the Transylvania County's Sheriff's Office.
The criminal summons against Henson - who represents Transylvania, Polk, and parts of Henderson Counties - is for cyberstalking according to Carolina Public Press, which reported the complaint against Henson came from his estranged wife Kelsey.
Last month, she received a year-long domestic violence protection order against her husband after testifying that Rep. Henson was sending her text messages outside of times they had agreed upon to communicate with each other. Rep. Henson's lawyer J. Michael Edney did not comment on the criminal summons to Carolina Public Press, saying he had yet to see any paperwork about it. In previous statements, Rep. Henson referred to the matter as a family issue that he looked forward to resolving.
In a press relese, the North Carolina Democratic Party, as well as Democratic Women of North Carolina, and House Democratic Whip Representative Deb Butler, all called on Henson to resign.
“I have remained silent on this issue until this time because in the United States people are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law,” Butler said in the release. “Now that a judge has seen fit, after a hearing on the merits, to grant a permanent restraining order against Representative Henson, there has been a finding of domestic violence on his part. There is no place for domestic violence in our society, particularly on the part of an elected official who purports to be a role model for our youth. In my opinion, he should resign.”