Jasper mayoral candidate’s candidacy overshadowed by criminal issues
Jasper’s third mayoral candidate, Joshua Budd, 32, has based his candidacy on inspiring people to vote.
But Budd’s own recent brush with the Dubois County criminal courts system could dampen his torch-bearing efforts as well as his candidacy.
Since announcing his run for the office in July, Budd has delayed discussing any other issues the city is currently facing. He has promised those issues will come to the forefront as the election nears. For now, he has concentrated on registering voters as well as inciting them to report to polling stations in November — even going so far as making an appearance at the opening ceremony of the Latino Festival in Huntingburg to urge those attending to vote this year.
Budd, the youngest mayoral candidate on the ballot, is a 2001 Jasper High School graduate who holds a bachelor’s degree in communication and culture from Indiana University in Bloomington where he also minored in English and Swahili.
However, Budd’s youthful candidacy and apparent passion to incite people to vote could be viewed as marred by his agreement to enter into the county’s pre-trial diversion program for two criminal incidents in his recent past.
The first was an alleged incident in which police charged Budd with Class A misdemeanor battery. The incident occurred in 2013 and involved a married woman in which Budd was having an affair.
According to the police report, the woman claimed she broke off the affair with Budd while he was at her house on August 27, 2013. He became agitated and allegedly grabbed her arms and waist while refusing to leave the home.
The woman reported to the Jasper Police Department on August 30 to explore options on filing for a restraining order against Budd. She told police that after the initial incident at her home, he had continued to contact her by text and in person.
When officers asked about charges for the alleged battery, she told them she didn’t want to testify against Budd. The officer did not pursue charges against Budd at the time due to the lack of testimony.
On September 7, the woman contacted the department about filing the battery charge. She gave a sworn affidavit and agreed to testify. Budd was notified and asked to come in for an interview about the charges. He told police that the incident did not occur as the woman had reported and did not report to the police department.
The woman was granted the restraining order and the misdemeanor case moved into the court.
Then in 2014, Budd was charged with breaking the protective order when he created a scene on a public road in Jasper. According to the report, Budd stopped his vehicle and began to “cause a scene” at an intersection on Newton Street, forcing the woman originally involved in the battery case to stop the van she was operating behind his car. He then began to yell at her and according to the report, “flip her off”.
Budd continued to take these actions even as the nearby automatic traffic light turned green and other drivers behind the woman’s van began to blow their vehicles’ horns.
According to the woman, Budd’s vehicle was blocking traffic in such a way that she was forced to drive over the sidewalk curb to get away from him. But not before he made several obscene gestures and continued to rant at her.
Witnesses of the event, as well as the woman’s children who were riding in the van at the time, corroborated what had occurred, and Budd was charged with Class A misdemeanor invasion of privacy.
He continued to fight both charges in court until May of this year when he entered into the pre-trial diversion program for both incidents.
The pretrial diversion program allows for charges to be dropped against an individual if they agree to comply with certain requirements set by the prosecuting attorney’s office.
In Budd’s case, among the stipulations listed in the agreement, he is required to pay $330 to the county; obtain a mental health assessment; not contact the woman involved in the incidents; and stay out of trouble for a year or he would be charged with the two counts.
If he remains in compliance with the terms, the charges will be dismissed. He is scheduled to be back in court on May 20, 2016.
Budd would not offer any responses in regards to why he agreed to enter the pretrial diversion program after fighting the charges for so long. He only offered up a single statement. [quote]These allegations against me are totally and completely false. I have filed my own counter suits against those that have been involved with this felonious and unjust defamation of my character. I have ample proof of my innocence and the motives behind these rancorous, spiteful attacks. I strive to believe that the truth will be brought to light. Unfortunately, corruption has the insidious effect of undermining the rule of law and when used to cause fear it can only serve to hurt the community. I stand for honor and integrity, and it hurts my heart that I have been falsely accused in this manner. My empathy goes out to those who have equally felt injustice and to my friends and family, I want to apologize for any detriment these baseless and erroneous lies have caused you – your strength has given me the courage to believe that we can find a better way.[/quote]
Budd has not indicated he would withdraw from the mayoral race, but he has affirmed that these events are part of his reason for filing for the position.
Editor’s note: We changed the wording of the second sentence due to its editorial tone. We added the word “married” to the description of the victim to clarify the word “affair”.
