He is a pathetic loser and she is no better.
Blaming her pill abuse and that on getting into a hottub? PLEASE! Its not like she was forced into that hottub.
She wants money and attention.
Garn was her sunday school teacher when she was 9 years old. In Utah/Mormon society, being members in the same ward mean the guy was her neighbor, a trusted member of the community that she would see practically every day. When she was 15 (probably earlier), he "hired" her to work at his company. (What kind of work is a 15 year old qualified to do?).
As her employer (and active member of her church), he drove her 40 miles to Salt Lake, bought some booze, and took her to a "hot-tub-by-the-hour" joint. (And how did a good ol' church boy from Syracuse know where to find the gay's hot tub establishment?)
Later, Garn used his wife, son, and church authorities to attempt to coerce this woman.
The dude's a pedophile and pervert. He'd targeted her for sex for years.
Re: the victim...possibly, but none of us have a handle of what their relationship was -- and you've already reduced it to just one hot tub encounter...and several of the articles say it was more than that:
First of all, KSL.com (owned by the Mormon church) already says their hot-tubbing occurred more than once: Maher said Saturday she and Garn were in a hot tub together twice -- once in late 1984 after she had just turned 15 and again a few months later in 1985. She declined to say if the pair were nude both times or to provide any other specifics of the hot tubbing episodes. "I'm sure the resignation was really difficult for him, but it needed to happen," Maher said. "This is a secret that devastated my life and my family's life." Source: House majority leader Kevin Garn resigns
Now why would somebody conclude that even a couple of hot tub encounters "devastated my life and my family's life"??? Hold that question for a moment...and then look at another Cheryl Maher comment:
"Let's just say this. He really loves to massage," Maher told City Weekly when asked for details of the contact in the hot tub. Maher, though, talks less about how that particular encounter traumatized her and more about the emotional relationship she had with Garn. "I was in love with him," she said. Source: Woman: Garn lying about 'no contact' in hot tub when she was 15
She was love in him, she says. She looked up to him as her Lds Sunday School teacher; as the guy who trusted her as an employee at age 14 or 13. And, as she implies, the guy who took her to lunch; took her shopping:
"In the church, people feel they can trust everybody," said Maher, who was excommunicated a few years ago for an extra-marital affair. "You're supposed to be safe with the priesthood holder, or whoever you're with. And I think my Mom and Dad felt that way. 'He's taking her out to lunch. Oh, he's taken her shopping. She's taken care of.' They had no idea. That was the trust in the church and I think that needs to be looked at." Source: Woman: Garn lying about 'no contact' in hot tub when she was 15
So, to get back to that "why" question: if he did all these things; and if the relationship turned sexual, then here's a trusted spiritual leader who is in effect "training" a 15 yo to engage in behavior (sex outside of marriage) which if she replicates while married could devastate her...
...family life (the Lds church ex-communicated her for having an affair) Source: CityWeekly article cited above
...which could further lead to ex-communication [and did]
And we know the Lds leadership pattern. The general authorities are business leaders who serve on each others' business boards. Same with the rest of the Lds hierarchy. Do you think they like to take action vs. a "...wealthy business owner, who has interests in everything from banks to hotels..."???? See quote source at: Garn's bombshell blows away lawmakers