Las Vegas GOP consultant arrested for raping a woman he met on a dating app

Las Vegas Republican consultant Benjamin Sparks was arrested this Tuesday in connection with a rape in Atlanta, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

The allegations come from a Georgia woman identified as Dawn Marie Budway, who says Sparks raped her at an Airbnb after the two met on a dating app in late September. Budway has repeatedly criticized authorities for not arresting him sooner.

“Please continue to share my story,” Budway wrote on social media, later adding, “This shouldn’t have happened. Las Vegas dropped the ball.”

As the Review-Journal points out, Las Vegas prosecutors last year dismissed four counts of second-degree kidnapping and one count of sexually motivated coercion against Sparks. He has also been accused of sexually enslaving and assaulting his former fiancee.

"Sparks, who worked on an unsuccessful campaign for former U.S. Rep. Cresent Hardy of Nevada, was fired in early 2018 from his job as political affairs director for RedRock Strategies, a prominent GOP consulting firm," the Review-Journal reports. "He worked on high-profile congressional campaigns, including that of New Mexico lawmaker Yvette Herrell, and national races, including Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign and the anti-recall campaign of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in 2012."