Curt Clawson Faces Heat Over Ties to Child Molester

Congressional candidate and businessman Curt Clawson is facing the rare sight of his three Republican primary opponents -- Florida Senate Majority Leader Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, former state Rep. Paige Kreegel and Michael Dreikorn -- demanding to know about his ties with Glen Borst, a convicted child molester who lived in a home owned by Clawson in Utah. Reports have emerged about Clawsons financial disclosures regarding the house Borst lived in. There are also reports that Clawson and Borst were childhood friends.

"Now more than ever, we stand together to put politics aside to address some very serious questions that have been raised in this race, the candidates said in a joint statement released on Tuesday. As candidates for the United States Congress but more importantly as parents and members of this community -- there is no greater priority than protecting our children from the violent predators who target them. Recent news reports have brought into question Curt Clawson's relationship with a violent child rapist in Utah. He has dismissed these news reports as politically driven, and that just couldn't be further from the truth."

Benacquisto, Dreikorn and Kreegel will appear at a media event in Fort Myers on Wednesday on the matter. The candidates battle it out in the primary on April 22.

The Clawson team responded with an audio recording from a woman who said she was the mother of the child Borst abused. This woman said she was upset and disgusted at Clawson's opponents for using her daughter's tragedy as a political issue.