Both campaigns in North Carolina’s 51st House District are citing decade-old court documents detailing allegations of pirating and sexual assault to try and discredit the other candidate.

The mudslinging underscores what has become a tense battle for control of the district that includes all of Lee County and part of Harnett County. The race pits incumbent Democrat Jimmy Love, an attorney with seven terms of experience in the House under his belt, against Republican Mike Stone, a small business owner and Sanford’s mayor pro tem.

[Read CarolinaJournal.com’s earlier story on the House District 51 race here.]

In a Sept. 11 story, The Sanford Herald reported on a pirating suit brought against Stone in 2003 by the satellite television company DirecTV. The suit alleged that Stone and other defendants had used equipment to decrypt the company’s offerings in violation of copyright law.

Stone was assessed $10,000 in damages and another $780 in fees for costs and legal bills arising from the case, the newspaper reported. DirecTV notified Lee County court officials in 2007 that Stone’s debt was satisfied, but Stone told the Herald that he had convinced the company he wasn’t the culprit in the case.

In a telephone interview, Stone said that Love was trying to distract attention from his record in the House. “It’s that bad. It’s terrible,” he said. “It’s typical of the Democrats all over the state, having to run negative attacks.”

Love said the lawsuit “clearly illustrates the decision voters in this district” would make Nov. 2. “It really comes down to character, reputation, effectiveness, and responsiveness to constituents,” he said.

But Love has troubles of his own. The Lee County Republican Party has produced court records showing that Love had been the subject of a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by two female legal clients in 1997. He later was exonerated.

According to the Lee County Star-Tribune, Republicans “pointed to court records showing numerous motions filed by Love’s attorney during the ’97 case to suppress allegations that Love had inappropriate sexual contact with minors and allegations that he had had extramarital affairs.”

“There is a lot there in that folder that hasn’t been released yet,” said Stone, referring to the court documents. “The most damaging is some of the things that he had withdrawn or stricken from the record so no one could talk about it.”

Love said that it was “absolutely” inaccurate that he was the subject of the lawsuit. Instead, he said that he filed a slander lawsuit against one of the women involved and won a judgment of $20,000.

“One lady was basically trying to shake me down, and she was making these comments to several people,” Love said. “So I filed the suit against her for slander and libel in Lee County Superior Court. The case was tried by a judge and a jury, and the jury exonerated me … That’s the end of it.”

David N. Bass is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.