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PROVO — Prosecutors say Brandon Beckham's Utah Senate campaign sent emails to a woman whom he is accused of sexually abusing.
Beckham, 46, was charged on Feb. 25 with forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony, days before he declared his candidacy to represent District 23, which includes Vineyard and parts of Provo, Orem, Lindon and Pleasant Grove.
The woman has a protective order against Beckham, meaning he is ordered by the court not to contact her. In a hearing Wednesday, deputy Utah County attorney Stephen Jones said at least one of two campaign emails addressed the woman by name and discussed his criminal case.
"I understand that this was the campaign, but it was the defendant's campaign," Jones said.
The woman reported a nonconsensual sexual encounter with Beckham to Pleasant Grove police in June 2021. She told police that while Beckham was in her home to watch a movie, she left the room and returned to find him only in his underwear and he had turned on her electronic candles. Beckham made repeated sexual advances that evening, despite her telling him to stop multiple times, according to charging documents.
After straddling the woman and removing some of her clothing, she said she told him to "knock it off and that she was freaking out inside. Victim told defendant to stop multiple times and that she was uncomfortable, but defendant told her she was being too conservative," the charges allege.
Afterward, the woman reported that he told her "he had gone too far" and apologized.
"(Beckham) apologized many times. (Beckham) stated he was just being kinky and didn't know the victim was 'that uncomfortable' with it," charging documents state.
Although prosecutors did not ask a judge for an order to show cause, which would be a formal way of saying that the protective order was breached by the campaign emails, they did ask for Beckham and his attorney, Randall Spencer, to make sure that this does not happen again.
Spencer agreed that the emails were "certainly not appropriate" and that his client would comply.
At the hearing, Spencer also claimed that a third party had recorded a previous court hearing and had violated court rules for political gain. He asked the judge for an order to show cause regarding that recording, which he said was made by someone who was not in the press and did not have authorization.
Beckham is running for the state Senate seat currently held by Keith Grover and his campaign website describes him as "a small business owner, an active member of the Utah Valley community, and an elected member of the governing body for the Utah Republican Party."
In response to an inquiry from KSL in March, Beckham said that he was shocked to learn about the charges against him and "categorically" denied the public account of events and said he was confident about his defense.
"I am grateful for the many messages from friends and supporters encouraging me to stay strong and move forward with my campaign for the Utah Senate," Beckham said.
