Criminal complaint: Former Idaho GOP chair wore wig, masturbated outside apartment complex
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Cynthia Sewell, Idaho Statesman
BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — Boise Police on Thursday arrested Jonathan Parker — a lobbyist and former Idaho Republican Party chairman — and booked him into the Ada County Jail on a felony first-degree stalking charge.
Parker, 39, was still in jail Friday awaiting arraignment, which was scheduled at 1:30 Friday afternoon.
According to the criminal complaint, on or between May 16 and May 30, Parker “did knowingly and maliciously engage” in conduct that “seriously alarmed, annoyed or harassed (his wife) Kelly Parker.” The complaint states Parker’s conduct included “repeatedly hiding in bushes, masturbating, disguising himself with a wig” at or near her apartment complex.
On May 30, police said they received a call about a man acting strangely near homes in the 300 block of N. Whitewater Park Blvd. Officers made contact with that man and identified him as Parker. Further investigation revealed there is an active protection order between Parker and a woman living nearby — his wife — and Parker was then arrested.
Parker resigned from his GOP post on Feb. 18.
“Last year, Kelly and I were blessed that Presley came into our lives as our beloved daughter,” Parker wrote in his Feb. 18 resignation letter to the party.
“Serving as your chairman, while maintaining a full-time job and being a fully engaged father, has been harder than I imagined, so much so that I have reluctantly decided that I should no longer continue to serve as chairman of the Idaho Republican Party so that I can focus on the priorities I place above all others,” Parker stated at the time.
About one month later, on March 26, Parker’s wife filed for divorce in Ada County, according to court records. The divorce proceedings are pending and sealed.
Parker was elected GOP chairman in July 2017 and re-elected in June 2018. He started his own government affairs consulting and lobbying business, Parker Public Affairs, in 2017.
This article was originally published in the Idaho Statesman. It is used here with permission.