‘LIKE ROMEO AND JULIET’

GOP Candidate Hoping to Oust Cheney Says He Impregnated a Teen

Anthony Bouchard said he was trying to get on the front foot of damaging stories about the pregnancy, his ex-wife’s suicide, and his strained relationship with his son.

A Republican House candidate hoping to oust Rep. Liz Cheney in Wyoming has shared an eye-popping story about his previous marriage. State Sen. Anthony Bouchard said he was trying to get on the front foot after learning that opponents were digging into his past. He said he impregnated his 14-year-old girlfriend when he was 18. They married the next year—which he said was legal at the time in Florida—but divorced after three years. The woman died by suicide when she was 20. Bouchard then raised their son but said they’re now estranged because his son made some “wrong choices in his life.” He said his then-wife was pressured to abort the baby and was nearly banished by her family. Bizarrely, he described it as a tragic love story. “Bottom line, it’s a story when I was young, two teenagers, girl gets pregnant,” he said in a Facebook Live video. “You’ve heard those stories before. She was a little younger than me, so it’s like the Romeo and Juliet story.”

After Bouchard’s revelations, the Daily Mail published an “exclusive” story that said his son is awaiting trial on sodomy and other sex-related felonies.