Ad Suggests Sheriff Joe Is Soft on Child Molesters
Ross D. Franklin/AP
Here's a political ad to make your skin crawl.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio is famous for being tough on illegal immigrants, making inmates wear pink, and his ongoing special investigation into President Barack Obama's birth certificate.
But the Democrat running against Arpaio for sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz., wants you to think he's soft on child molesters.
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A new ad by Paul Penzone features a swing at a playground accompanied by the voice of a child talking about his abusive uncle.
"Mommy told me there were a lot of kids like me that Sheriff Joe didn't help," the child's voice says at one point.
Pezone's spokesman told ABC's Phoenix affiliate the ad is based on a book published earlier this year about sexual crimes in El Mirage, an incorporated city that used to contract its police services to Arpaio's Maricopa County Sheriff's department.
Arpaio's campaign manager told the station, "To suggest that Sheriff Arpaio doesn't care about children or the victims of any and all crimes is unbelievable….and that Penzone would stoop to using a child to further his political aspirations is shameful. "