A Belmont representative’s lighthearted reference to rape in a public meeting met with a call for sanctions and was denounced as a “disgusting” contribution to “rape culture.”

The incident, first reported by Susan Bruce in the Conway Daily Sun, occurred during the May 22 meeting of the Belknap County Delegation. Video of the meeting was made public by Lakes Region Public Access.

During the debate over a supplemental appropriation request for the sheriff’s department and county corrections, state Rep. Michael Sylvia referred to the former Belknap County sheriff’s deputy who was convicted of sexually assaulting a female inmate.

“We had a sheriff deputy on staff who was convicted of raping prisoners in transport and is accused of nine more charges,” Sylvia said. “That tells me we had somebody that had time on his hands.”

Diana Lacey, also from Belmont, rose to condemn Sylvia’s comments. “In all the budget discussions that I’ve sat through so far with this delegation,” she said, “I have to say that I have never heard anything as egregious as when Rep. Sylvia referred to someone being a rapist as someone having too much time on their hands.”

“I take offense to it and think he should face sanctions for it,” she continued. “It’s disgusting. I think it’s just way over the top and it contributes to the rape culture in our society and it is so incredibly wrong.”

In subsequent remarks, Sylvia addressed the controversy and defended his comments. “I’ve been accused of hating cops at one point in the discussions and I don’t believe it’s true,” he said. “One thing that is true, I hate rapists. And make no mistake, don’t even try, I hate rapists. Is that clear?”

Sylvia’s detractors note the three-term lawmaker spoke on the House floor earlier this month in opposition to Senate Bill 9, legislation that would strengthen the privacy rights of rape victims.

He also voted against House Bill 94, which would amend the state’s sex trafficking statute to prohibit a defense based on a lack of knowledge of the victim’s age or consent of the minor to the sex act.

And as Bruce pointed out, Sylvia was one of just three representatives in 2014 to vote against legislation that established the crime of domestic violence.

In a recent speech to the House, Rep. Debra Altschiller (D-Stratham) urged her colleagues to “create an environment that is more respectful, more sensitive to victims of sexual violence and more aware of how what we say and what we don’t say influences the people we represent.“

Noting the Centers for Disease Control has reported that New Hampshire has one of the highest sexual assault rates in the nation, Altschiller said, “We have to ask the uncomfortable question of why? Have we created an environment that has normalized sexual assault?”

House lawmaker: Accused rapist ‘somebody that…