Close Virginia House race goes viral when Democrat candidate's live stream sex acts made public

A Democrat running for the Virginia House of Delegates is blaming Republicans and her political opponents after reports surfaced that she live streamed sex acts with her husband, including after she entered the race, and she urged viewers to pay them with "tips."

Susanna Gibson, 40-year-old a nurse practitioner with two young children running in a highly competitive district in suburban Richmond, streamed the acts on Chaturbate, which advertises having "Free Adult Webcams, Live Sex, Free Sex Chat," "The Washington Post" reported Monday.

More than a dozen Chaturbate videos from the couple were archived in September 2022, after she entered the race, on Recurbate, which saves videos posted originally on Chaturbate. The most recent two videos were captured on Sept. 30, 2022, but it is unclear when the live stream occurred. 

"It won’t intimidate me and it won’t silence me," Gibson said. "My political opponents and their Republican allies have proven they’re willing to commit a sex crime to attack me and my family because there’s no line they won’t cross to silence women when they speak up."

The videos were no longer available for viewing on Recurbate as of Saturday after a Republican operative informed the Post about them, but they remained live on at least one other public website.

Gibson told viewers in at least two of the videos that she was "raising money for a good cause." She also asked for "tips" for performing specific acts, which apparently violates Chaturbate's terms and conditions.

In several videos, Gibson stops sex acts to type into the computer while urging viewers to provide tips. 

Gibson said exposing the videos constitutes "an illegal invasion of my privacy designed to humiliate me and my family."

Gibson's attorney Daniel Watkins said the videos' dissemination violates Virginia's revenge porn law, which states it is a Class 1 misdemeanor to "maliciously" share sexual pictures of another person with the "intent to coerce, harass, or intimidate."

Watkins said: "We are working closely with state and federal law enforcement."

Republican David Owen, a retired home builder who is running against Gibson on Nov. 7, said Monday that he and his team "found out about this story today like everyone else."

"I’m sure this is a difficult time for Susanna and her family, and I’m remaining focused on my campaign," he also said.

Prominent adult industry attorney Corey Silverstein said: "In this case, you have two adults who are engaging in consensual sex, and they’ve decided they want to broadcast that, and they’re doing so in exchange for tipping. There’s absolutely nothing illegal about it."

Silverstein also said: "I think it’s fantastic you have someone running who has an open sex life. It’s actually very refreshing."

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