Candidate For 31st District Washington Senate Seat Has Domestic Violence History

One of the four candidates for the 31st District state Senate seat in Washington State is critical of the work that incumbent Pam Roach has done in her time in state government, including a long record of discipline problems while on the job. However, senate hopeful Matt Richardson has had several brushes with the law in the past regarding domestic disputes and domestic violence.

Richardson, who is a Sumner City schoolteacher, had four encounters with Sumner City Police in the last ten years, all classified as domestic disputes. Richardson said that all of the incidents – none of which resulted in charges – had to do with a child custody dispute and did not involve physical violence. However, police say that the events involved shoving, striking, and threatening his ex-wife and daughter. One of the incidents involved Richardson giving his teen daughter a black eye, though he said it was a "a parental discipline slap that was not well aimed".

In addition to the above incidents, Richardson has also been found guilty of a misdemeanor sex crime when he was a teen.