So, Scott Brown, Why'd You Back Jeff Perry?

When Scott Brown revealed childhood sexual abuse, fellow victims and their advocates showered him with praise for sending “a powerful message to others who suffered abuse,” writes Joan Vennochi in the Boston Globe. But for Vennochi herself, Brown’s revelation only underscores a darker question that needs to be asked: Why did he endorse Jeff Perry, the Republican congressional candidate who ultimately lost last year’s election and “who, in 1991, allegedly stood by as a 14-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by a fellow police officer?”

“Given that Brown is the father of two daughters, his loyalty to Perry was always curious. The revelations in his book make it even odder," she continues. In the 60 Minutes interview revealing the abuse, Brown says, “When people find people like me at that young vulnerable age, who are basically lost, the thing that they have over you is, they make you believe that no one will believe you.” But, Vennochi writes, “Despite his own horrific experience, Brown still chose to believe Perry over Allen; or, if he didn’t believe him, he still backed him for an important political position.” (More Scott Brown stories.)