Posted on 06/22/2004 7:29:32 AM PDT by esryle
CHICAGO -- Illinois Republican Senate candidate Jack Ryan pressured his wife, actress Jeri Lynn Ryan, to have sex in clubs while others watched, she charged in divorce documents released Monday.
The "Boston Public" and "Star Trek: Voyager" actress said she angered Ryan by refusing. She did acknowledge infidelity on her part, which she said took place after their marriage was irretrievably broken.
In the documents, Ryan denied the allegations, saying he had been "faithful and loyal" to his wife. At a press conference Monday night, he expressed disappointment with the precedent set by the court order to release the documents.
"Someone was paid a lot of money to break into a file that Mom and Dad wanted to have sealed to protect their son," he said. "And now we're asking about what happened between a husband and wife in the most intimate part of the relationship."
The documents include hundreds of court-ordered blank or redacted pages, but what's left includes plenty of graphic detail about a bitter divorce.
Jeri Lynn Ryan charged during a custody hearing that Jack Ryan took her on surprise trips to New Orleans, New York and Paris in 1998, and that he insisted she go to sex clubs with him on each trip. She said that after going out to dinner with Ryan in New York, he demanded that she go to a club with him.
"It was a bizarre club with cages, whips and other apparatus hanging from the ceiling," she said.
She said Ryan asked her to perform a sexual act while others watched, and she refused. She said they left and Ryan apologized to her and said it was out of his system.
But then, she said, he took her to Paris and again took her to a sex club. She said she cried and became physically ill at the club, and her husband got angry with her. She said she could never get over that incident.
Ryan refused to address the charges directly Monday night, repeatedly referring to the court documents, where he said: "I was faithful and loyal to my wife throughout our marriage. I did arrange romantic getaways, but that did not include the activities she described. We did go to one avant-garde nightclub in Paris, which was more than either of us felt comfortable with. We left and vowed never to return."
He said he felt bad for their son that she would falsely accuse him and said she said she knew he had political aspirations.
Asked why Jeri Lynn Ryan made such specific allegations, Jack Ryan again referred to the court documents.
"You saw my response," he said. "That is not helpful toward what we're trying to accomplish as parents, to reopen those discussions."
In a statement released Monday evening, Jeri Lynn Ryan made no mention of the allegations, but said she now considered Ryan a good man and loving father.
"I consider Jack a friend," the statement said. "There was never any physical abuse in our marriage, either to myself or to our son. Nor to my knowledge was he ever unfaithful to me. Jack is a good man, a loving father and he shares a strong bond with our son. I have no doubt that he will make an excellent senator."
Judge Robert Schnider of Superior Court in Los Angeles ordered Friday the unsealing of portions of the records.
The two had vigorously fought the public disclosure of the files since before Jack Ryan's win in the March 16 Republican primary. They have argued making them public would be harmful to their 9-year-old son, Alex.
The Ryans said they were "disturbed and angered" by the decision but decided not to appeal.
Ryan had repeatedly assured GOP leaders the files contain nothing embarrassing enough to torpedo his bid for the Senate against Democrat Barack Obama.
Rumors about the documents' contents have been circulating since before the March 16 primary. Some of his GOP opponents raised them as an issue in that campaign, but Ryan won the primary handily.
Schnider said making the records public would prove harmful to the Ryans' son, and could prove embarrassing to the former investment banker and teacher. But he said the public deserved to know the contents
The Chicago Tribune and Chicago TV station WLS sued to have the documents released.
Maybe nosejob, maybe airbrush or digital postprocessing. Hard to tell anymore.
I have no doubts that in real life, and without any makeup, she's still a babe.
So rowrrrr!
Good possibility - but I won’t hold it against her.
"Her husband appears to be demented, if he wanted to drag her to sex clubs."
What a screwball this guy is.
Thank you, your honor. You did a great service to the American electorate.
Hmmm.....Tom Paris?
You will be assimilated.
Resistance is futile.
Me resist? Ummm. I don't think so.
Mr. public sex acts?
He's another RINO.
Throw him in a padded cell, inject him with thorizine and electro-shock him until he glows in the dark.
That would be appropriate treatment for all RINOs, come to think of it.
Any man lucky enough to have the love of such a woman, should go on his knees and be thankful he has something most men will never have. Just my opinion.
Hmm.... I doubt her allegations in the divorce papers aren't a little exagerrated. Maybe the two of them went to risque clubs while in Paris and New Orleans (so what? they're adults). Maybe he likes the thrill of sex in public places (so do a lot of people, nothing scandalous there). In the hands of a divorce attorney, a nightclub that was probably no worse than Moulin Rouge or the average Vegas topless review at a casino becomes "a sex club" and the fact that he wanted to have sex (with his wife) in a public place turns him into some sort of deviant.
I really don't see how his sexual leanings should matter at all.
Character does count. If your wife can't trust you to be a gentleman, why should the electorate trust you at all?
Additionally, if a public figure is willing to engage in sex acts in front of strangers, whta does that say about his judgment and mental fitness?
She has a nose?
All we have is her word in a divorce filing. This should disqualify him from the ballot? Well, were do we draw the line? Should full sexual disclosure become a routine step for Republicans?
And women never, EVER lie in divorce proceedings, right?
Reactions like this make the liberal claim that Republicans are prudes and overly concerned with sex ring too true.
Politicians don't lie, either?
Who would you believe?
Really? Then why the media request if its a matter of public record. They didn't need to file no steenken FOIA request with the court if you're right about a divorce file being public record as a matter of law.
It's unbelievable that these records could be released. Their release serves no purpose whatsoever except to embarrass this couple, their son, and other family members. Once again our judicial system proves it is screwed up beyond redemption. I am completely disgusted with this "judge" and the individuals who sued.
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