Ex-state senator files $1.35M slander suit over social media post

A former state senator now running for Petersburg City Council is suing the former legislative aide of a colleague for $1.35 million for slander per se after the aide accused him of raping an underage employee in a social media post.

Joe Morrissey filed the suit in October 2024 in Petersburg Circuit Court days after Arlington County resident Kevin Saucedo-Broach responded to a post on X, formerly Twitter, in which he never mentioned Morrissey by name. The case is set to go to trial in late July.

Morrissey is asking for $1 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages, according to the complaint.

“Slander per se” is a subcategory of defamation. It is a type of spoken defamation that automatically presumes harm, making it easier to prove damages.

It’s Morrissey’s second suit filed in Petersburg stemming from comments made about the situation involving him and the underage employee, who he later married. That first case was thrown out after a judge ruled that statements made against Morrissey were based on fact instead of opinion.

In 2014, Morrissey, a former Richmond prosecutor and state legislator, made an Alford plea – a guilty plea in which a defendant maintains their innocence but acknowledges that the prosecution has enough evidence to likely secure a conviction – to a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor – and received a jail sentence but was later pardoned by then-Gov. Ralph Northam.

It is that plea and the subsequent pardon that formed the nucleus for the latest lawsuit.

What is the suit about?

In September 2024, Del. Adele McClure, D-Arlington County, posted on X a photo of her with some legislative colleagues at a conference in Northern Virginia.

Saucedo-Broach – a former chief of staff to Del. Alfonso Lopez, D-Arlington County – posted a now-deleted comment on the photo: “If anyone’s curious, the guy to the left of her helped a fellow State Senator get a pardon for raping his 17-year-old employee. But hope you had fun at the meeting.”

The person in the photo the post refers to is Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax County, who the post claimed helped broker Morrissey’s pardon.

Saucedo-Broach resigned his post with Lopez in 2022. He lost a 2023 House Democratic primary to McClure.

In his complaint, obtained by The Progress-Index, Morrissey claimed the post was “false and defamatory” because Morrissey’s plea had nothing to do with rape.

“Senator Morrissey was never charged with nor convicted of ‘raping’ his 17-year-old employee,” the complaint stated. “At no time was there ever a suggestion, allegation, charge or conviction of rape, including ‘statutory rape.’”

It stated that Saucedo-Broch “knew the statement was false because he lacked the facts necessary to confirm them.” The complaint said the statement described Morrissey as “someone who should be shunned or excluded by the citizens of Petersburg.”

‘You knew when you did it’

In one of the documents filed by Saucedo-Broach’s attorney on the lawsuit, the defendant responded to Morrissey’s request to produce proof of rape.

“I know you raped your 17-year-old employee based not on any conversations but from reading countless news reports and commentaries publicly available on the internet,” Saucedo-Broach wrote. “As I’m sure you knew when you did it, having sex with a minor is statutory rape. Period. The end!

Saucedo-Broach claimed Morrissey got the victim to lie about the circumstances. He also said that when the case comes to trial in July, “you will have a public verdict saying you are a rapist.”

He also vowed to “make sure the whole world knows you have admitted you are a rapist.”

Morrissey eventually married the employee, and they have three children together. They have since divorced.

After several delays in the process, the trial was finally set for July 28-29.

Earlier defamation lawsuit was tossed

The latest defamation case bears semblance to a 2023 $1 million lawsuit Morrissey filed against political activist Jimmie Lee Jarvis, also in Petersburg Circuit Court.

Morrissey accused Jarvis of calling him a “violent thug,” a “liar” and a “sexual predator” in public statements pertaining to Morrissey’s past legal and personal troubles. During his career as both a prosecutor and a state legislator, Morrissey was involved in altercations with fellow attorneys and constituents.

He claimed that Jarvis’ statements were false and damaging to his reputation.

Jarvis responded, saying his statements were based on facts. In the end, a Petersburg Circuit Court judge agreed with him, dismissing the lawsuit with a stipulation it could not be refiled.

Reporting by Bill Atkinson, Petersburg Progress-Index / The Progress-Index