When Vice President Joe Biden gave remarks about campus rape before students at the University of Illinois Thursday, he was welcomed to the city of Champaign by Democratic Mayor Don Gerard, whose former girlfriend secured a no-contact order from a judge against him less than two years ago.
“No means no — and no exceptions,” Biden said with Gerard nearby. “It’s not only grounds for discipline and expulsion. You should go to jail if you engage in that activity.”
The judge issued the two-year no-contact order against Gerard in June 2013. It was filed by his former girlfriend Laura Huth, a former alderman.
The order came after months of legal fights stemming from a civil dispute over a consultancy fee.
Huth claimed in court through her lawyer that Gerard threatened to direct the city attorney to pursue legal action against her and left intimidating voicemails.
She also claimed Gerard “disparaged” her over the issue, and wanted the mayor to no longer contact her and stay at least 100 yards from her residence and business. Gerard told the Daily Illini, “I do not believe there is anything to the allegations.”
The two were in court in February 2013, where the judge allowed Huth to amend her original filed petition against Gerard under Illinois’s Stalking No-contact Order Act and the Domestic Violence Act, as her initial petition was denied.
The civil case was eventually settled in September 2013.
Another no-contact order was filed against the mayor two years ago by a local musician. A judge denied the request one month later.