Robert Goforth: Republican state representative indicted after allegedly strangling woman with ethernet cable

A Republican state representative in Kentucky has been indicted by a grand jury on strangulation and assault charges, in relation to an incident that allegedly occurred in April.

Robert Goforth, who serves in the Kentucky House of Representatives, was indicted on Friday of one count of strangulation and count of assault in the fourth degree, according to the Corbin Times-Tribune.

Mr Goforth was also originally charged with third-degree terroristic threatening in April, but he avoided incitement on that count on Friday.

The 44-year-old was taken into custody on 21 April, after he allegedly strangled a woman with an ethernet cable, and threatened to “hog tie” her, according to The Hill.

The anonymous woman went to a 911 dispatch centre in London, Kentucky at around 3.10am on that day, and told the police that she needed to speak to a deputy about “an alleged domestic assault that had just occurred with three small children still in the home,” according to a police report.

The children were found safe by law enforcement when they searched the home, and the report alleged that the fight was about the woman unlocking her mobile phone.

She told the authorities that she managed to escape the home by promising to unlock the phone for the state representative.

Mr Goforth was arrested later that day and was held for more than seven hours before he was released on a $25,000 (£19,576) bond.

The state representative was arraigned on 1 June, where he pleaded not guilty to all charges, before the case went to a grand jury last week.

Following the 44-year-old’s arrest in April, Kentucky House speaker David Osborne said he would not comment on Mr Goforth or his position in the Kentucky House of Representatives.

However, the Republican added: “While we reserve comment on this specific situation, the House Majority Caucus unequivocally denounces any form of domestic violence and has zero tolerance for it or its perpetrators.

“A society that values human life must also condemn domestic abuse.”

After Mr Goforth was indicted on Friday, a spokeswoman for the state Democratic Party called for him to resign, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

“State Representative Goforth should have resigned back in April and his party should have taken action against him when he refused to do so,” the spokesperson said.

They added: “This is not the first time a victim of Mr Goforth’s violent assaults has come forward. Republican leadership has ignored this for far too long, it is time for them to take action. Goforth needs to go.”

The previous assault the spokesperson referred to in the statement, was an accusation of sexual assault against a woman from more than 10 years ago, which was brought to light when the 44-year-old ran for Kentucky governor in 2019.

His accuser called for him to drop out of the race, and wrote: “You are the prime example of a man who believes he is entitled.

“You are not entitled; not to the bodies of women who refuse you, not to the governorship.”

Mr Goforth denied those allegations in January 2019.