Minnesota MP Jim Knoblach leaves the race after his daughter tells him he has been assaulted for more than a decade

"I adore my children more than anything and I would never do anything to hurt them," read Knoblach's statement. "His allegations are false."

Knoblach's announcement was made while Minnesota Public Radio News was ready to publish a lengthy report detailing the allegations against the eight-member representative and included interviews with his daughter, Laura Knoblach, who shared extensive documentation with the station.

In this story, Laura Knoblach, who is now 23 years old, stated that the mistreatment started at the age of 9 and that her father had gone to her room after lying down, lying down, and sleeping. to lie behind her. She told the station that Knoblach regularly kissed her arms and neck and bit her ears. Dozens of occasions, she said, he approached her from behind while they were together in the kitchen and leaned her body against his, pushing her against the refrigerator or dishwasher.

"He put his arm around me and did not let me get up or away and he would lick my neck or bite my ear," she said in her interview with the radio.

When Laura Knoblach was 15 years old, she says, her father once pinned her up and asked her if she liked the way he touched her. She was scared, she said at the station, and felt like she had no choice, so she said yes.

Susan Gaertner, the lawmaker's lawyer, said in an interview with the Washington Post that Knoblach "recognizes that he is a physically loving father" for both his son and daughter, but Gaertner said: exaggerated by his daughter.

Gaertner said that in the era of the #MeToo movement, voters would not be receptive to the legislator's denials.

"You have the reality of an environment where allegations of misconduct are harder to fight in the public eye," she said.

In his statement, Mr. Knoblach stated that he intended to serve the last weeks of his term and to "work toward the healing of my family".

Knoblach is the chairman of the House's powerful Ways and Means Committee and his seat in the legislature was one of the countries the Democrats aimed for even before these allegations were made. Local media are now waiting for Knoblach's Democratic opponent Dan Wolgamott to win the November elections.

Gaertner said that Laura Knoblach did not agree with her father's conservative policy and that his decision to come forward was partly motivated by political considerations. Gaertner described a "2016 Thanksgiving Classic Fight for Politics in Knoblach House".

Still, the station reports that Laura Knoblach has already spoken of the period of more than ten years of alleged abuse. In December 2016, after being away from her family, Laura Knoblach wrote on Facebook in a post that she later deleted that her father had assaulted her as a child and was that his family "forced me to remain silent for almost 15 years," according to a copy of the mail obtained by the station.

The local police reportedly opened an investigation soon after his post but refused to lodge a complaint. In a letter obtained by several media outlets, Sherburne County Lawyer wrote to the county sheriff that "the evidence is insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that James Michael Knoblach committed a crime."

"There has been a thorough criminal investigation and no charges have been filed," Gaertner said. "So, at some point, you have to wonder when it ends."

Laura Knoblach said that she had shared her story with the radio after attempts to hold her father accountable failed.

She now lives in Colorado, announced the Minnesota Public Radio News, and is a top-level triathlete. She said that training for competitions helped her cope with the abuse and its consequences.

His father will be leaving at the end of the year.

Laura Knoblach said that she would continue to run.

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