Former Democratic Candidate Targeted Over Racy Videos Charged With Alleged Domestic Battery
(AP Photo/Steve Helber)
A former Democratic candidate for the Virginia legislature, whose X-rated movies with her husband were leaked before the election, has been charged with domestic violence this week.
Susanna Gibson Payne, 42, was arrested on September 22 for alleged “assault and battery” against a family member. Payne claimed that her husband, 44-year-old John David Gibson, has been harassing her amid their divorce since last year.
“After my estranged husband, arrested three times since I filed for divorce, assaulted me during a June 2025 custody exchange while I protected our son, he filed a retaliatory criminal complaint against me,” she said.
Payne said she turned herself in after a misdemeanor warrant was issued.
The Democrat’s husband, however, denied ever assaulting his wife. Gibson was arrested in December for violating a protection order and using threatening language with his wife. He said the incident stemmed from a tense argument with his wife’s new boyfriend.
Payne and Gibson grabbed headlines in 2023 when Payne was running for office, and videos the couple had made were posted online. Gibson said the posting and recording occurred without her consent.
The couple was accused of making the videos for “tips,” though they denied that the videos were for profit. At the time, Payne said she was determined to stay in the race.
In the end, she lost by less than 1,000 votes.
“My political opponents and their Republican allies have proven they’re willing to commit a sex crime to attack me and my family because there’s no line they won’t cross to silence women when they speak up,” she said.
On X, Payne blasted the justice system for “too often” punishing “those who seek safety.”
“Survivors deserve a justice system that recognizes abuse dynamics and protects our safety, not one that allows abusers to weaponize the law as continued control,” she wrote. “I’m a private citizen and domestic violence survivor navigating a system that too often punishes those who seek safety.”
