Caught On Tape: Partying Lawmaker Hits On Young Reporter

Since over the last five years more than 80 state legislators have been indicted or convicted, it made sense for ABC News to investigate corruption from corporate interests and lobbyists creeping into state capitals around the nation. But while documenting unsavory political scandals at the state level, a film crew captured a creep of another sort. Watch video below of a Puerto Rican legislator getting far too close for comfort with a student journalist. America, meet Jorge Navarro Suarez.

Writing for ABCNews.com, Matthew Mosk reports

At a national convention of state legislators in Louisville, Kentucky over the summer, more than 1,300 politicians and staffers fanned out across Louisville to a series of corporate and lobbyist-sponsored dinners and parties, including a lavish reception at the world-famous horse racing venue Churchill Downs sponsored by Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo and Sprint, among others, and a massive waterfront concert. Lawmakers devoured prime rib and tenderloin, and consumed bourbon by the barrel.

One legislator from Puerto Rico took advantage of the festive environment by making unwanted advances on a female student journalist, groping and kissing her –- all as the cameras rolled. In a statement to ABC News, Rep. Jorge Navarro Suarez denied any misconduct, and said he only got close to the student to understand what she was saying, since the music was loud and he doesn’t speak English well.

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