Kasich PAC turning over $250K from Silicon Valley donor

by Rebecca Savransky - 03/15/16 8:31 PM ET

A super-PAC supporting Republican presidential candidate John Kasich will turn over $250,000 it received from a Silicon Valley donor accused of sexually abusing a woman, Yahoo News reported.

The super-PAC, New Day for America, said Tuesday it will turn over the money to nonprofit groups working to end human trafficking.

{mosads}The donor, Silicon Valley investor Michael Goguen, is in the middle of a lawsuit in which he’s accused of sexually abusing a woman for 13 years. The lawsuit was filed by Amber Laurel Baptiste.

“Upon learning of these allegations, New Day for America decided we will donate Michael Goguen’s contribution in its entirety to organizations committed to ending human trafficking,” Connie Wehrkamp, a spokeswoman for the super-PAC, said in an email to Yahoo News.

Kasich campaign spokesman Chris Schrimpf said in an email that “this is the first we’ve heard of this and are in the process of giving the money to charity.”

In addition to his contributions to the super-PAC, Goguen has given other donations to the Republican party including $33,400 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee and $32,400 to the National Republican Congressional Committee. He has also donated to the Republican Party of Ohio and Montana.

In the lawsuit filed against Goguen, Baptiste said she had been “the victim of human trafficking since she was 15 years old.” She said Goguen was “a worse predator than the human traffickers who were keeping her in bondage.”

In a countersuit, Goguen denied that the woman was his “sex slave.” He said she was “consumed by anger, obsession and jealousy” following the end of a “mutually consensual love affair.”

Goguen’s employer, Sequoia Capital, tweeted that although the allegations are “unproven and unrelated to Sequoia” they decided Goguen’s “departure was appropriate.”

We understand the allegations about Michael Goguen are unproven and unrelated to Sequoia. Still, we decided his departure was appropriate.

— Sequoia Capital (@sequoia) March 12, 2016