The brother of Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dr. Amy Acton is condemning an unaired ad being shared on social media that features their estranged mother strongly criticizing her daughter.
Acton has been estranged from their mother, Donna Stearns Arthur, since 1978, when her stepfather, Cledith Arthur, faced a rape charge for sexually abusing 12-year-old Acton.
“It’s not surprising that Vivek Ramaswamy has stooped to such a despicable low as to attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at 12 years old from our birth mother's husband into a political talking point,” Acton's brother, Philip Stearns, said in a statement provided by the Acton campaign.
“After he was arrested and Amy and I were removed from their custody, our birth mother
stayed married to Amy’s rapist until he died," Stearns said of Arthur. "This desperate, disgusting attack reveals exactly who Vivek Ramaswamy is at his core – a pathetic excuse for a man who is willing to hurt anyone as long as it gets him what he wants."
A clip of the ad, whichblogger The Rooster shared on social media on Oct. 19, features Arthur accusing her daughter of lying about Acton's upbringing, which included homelessness, neglect and abuse, and urging Ohioans not to vote for Acton. "It's not easy for a mother to say this, but Amy has a serious problem," Arthur says in the ad. "She is a liar. She lies about her past."
The clip does not identify who paid for the ad.
Ramaswamy's campaign did not respond to phone calls and text messages on Oct. 20. The ad does not appear to be on television, according to Columbus-based ad tracker Medium Buying.
The ad was also shared by Republican operatives on social media,including Donald Trump Jr. who wrote: "YIkes! Ohio watch this and think about what it means."
What does the record show about Acton's childhood?
Acton detailed her troubled home life and mother's neglect in a Youngstown Vindicator article published in August 2019. She described living in "18 or so" homes, including one unfinished basement, before turning 12. She recalled Arthur's many boyfriends and their frequent moves. At one point, they lived in a tent outside of Youngstown, Acton told the Vindicator.
But it all got worse when Arthur's husband and Acton's stepfather, Cledith Arthur, sexually abused her at age 12. Austintown Police arrested Cledith Arthur in August 1978 for the rape of a 12-year-old girl "following an investigation initiated by the girl's father,"the Youngstown Vindicator reported at the time.
Cledith Arthur left the state before a conviction. A warrant was issued for his arrest in October 1987 and December 1981, according to court records. He died in 2004 in southern Pennsylvania.
In a campaign video last week, Stearns verified Acton's account of their upbringing.
"I received a lot of abuse, but Amy always got the worst of it. She continued to receive that abuse because she knew she had to protect me from that, and if she hadn't done that, who knows where I would have ended up," Stearns said.
The recent ad is at least the second time Arthur has publicly accused her daughter of lying. Arthur detailed concerns about Acton's backstory to an anti-abortion group in 2020 while Acton was serving as state health director.
State government reporter Jessie Balmert can be reached at jbalmert@usatodayco.com or @jbalmert on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Amy Acton’s brother slams ad featuring estranged mother
