Aaron von Ehlinger

In April 2021, von Ehlinger was accused of "unconsented sexual contact" with a teenage legislative intern.[3][4] Von Ehlinger denied the allegations and maintained that the encounter was consensual.[5] The Idaho House Ethics Committee and Boise Police Department later began investigations into the allegations.[6][7] In August 2020, after the allegations surfaced, another Republican house member, Priscilla Giddings, from White Bird, Idaho, exposing Ehlinger's victim's identity on social media, emailing it to constituents, with right-wing blogs subsequently posting the girl's name and her photo online.[3] It was later reported that documents from Legislature's Ethics Committee previously warned von Ehlinger again[[st hitting on female statehouse employees after his colleagues received complaints from other staffers.[8][5]

After the House Ethics Committee voted unanimously to recommend that von Ehlinger be expelled from the House, he resigned from his position on April 29, 2021.[9][10]

On September 25, 2021, von Ehlinger was arrested in Atlanta after returning to the U.S. from Central America, where he had been since May 2021.[11][12] On October 8, 2021, von Ehlinger was arrested on felony charges of rape and forcible penetration after being extradited to Idaho and booked into the Ada County Jail. He was released the same day.[13]

On April 29, 2022, Ehlinger was found guilty on the charge of rape and acquitted on the charge of forcible penetration.[14]