Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
On Saturday, Oct. 6, at 2 p.m., the biological daughters of Valley County Sheriff’s candidate Joseph Horn, Amy Brown and Gail Hayes, held a forum to discuss their opposition to their father for Valley County Sheriff. In that meeting, which was posted to YouTube by Sean Heavey and shared widely on social media, the two daughters accused the candidate of severe physical abuse while they were children and of abuses against other women.
To be clear, The Glasgow Courier has been unable to locate any formal criminal complaints or convictions for sexual abuse or sexual assault against Horn in Montana or Iowa.
“I’m talking about sexual misconduct,” stated Brown when clarifying the allegations to the audience which contained a blend of supporters and skeptics. According to the daughters’ statements, they had travelled from Iowa and West Virginia to give a public accounting of their concerns and allegations that their biological father had abused them as children and sexually assaulted them and others. At one point, Brown claimed that they were contacted by two younger, local victims from the Valley County area and that was why they had travelled so far to go public against their father.
During the exchange, Brown, who did much of the talking, described scenarios where the girls were stripped naked and beaten with belts by the now sheriff candidate to the point they were kept home from school for extended periods of time. They discussed other allegations that highlighted a pattern, in their minds, that their biological father was unfit to be sheriff.
Joe Horn did not attend the public event despite an open letter inviting him from Brown. Supporters of Joe Horn for Sheriff were present at the forum and started in with their defense of Horn within minutes of the event starting.
After asserting that she was not coerced, asked or paid to come to Glasgow, Brown was immediately interrupted by Janeen Britzman who quoted a text message exchange between Brown and Horn (that was later shared on social media) in which Brown had stated, “I’m in no shape or form the head of this snake, nor Gail (sic). I’ve been contacted by many people, the last count was 10 people.”
Britzman made the argument that Brown was obviously encouraged to come by others in the community and that her assertion that she came on her own was a lie. To some present, this argument fell short as Brown appeared to be clarifying that they were there because they wanted to be and not because they were manipulated by locals with a stake in the race. Horn’s supporters would continue interrupting, mocking and making derisive statements until the event was ended over an hour later.
Brown and Hayes were unable to speak for more than a few minutes at a time before being repeatedly interrupted. At a certain point Brown began engaging the belligerent members of the audience in a back and forth and few actual details or events emerged from the event.
One audience member did ask the two daughters if the abuse they suffered was physical or sexual and Brown’s response was definitively, “Both.” No details of any alleged sexual assaults were shared and the two did not provide any names or time frames for the other alleged victims.
The video can be viewed on YouTube by searching Horn Public Forum by Sean R. Heavey.
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