Disturbing audio resurfaced this week of North Carolina Supreme Court candidate Sarah Stevens criticizing survivors of childhood abuse. 

Stevens was delivering remarks on the floor of the NC General Assembly as the legislature was debating the SAFE Child Act– a bill that was meant to protect children and provide survivors more time to seek justice. 

“They’re looking for those deep pockets,” Stevens said of survivors. 

She goes on to read a list of organizations that perpetuated sexual abuse, lamenting how much they paid in damages to victims. “They’re all filing bankruptcy,” Stevens says. “This is about money.” 

An audience member interjects: “THEY ALL SHOULD GO BANKRUPT!” Stevens ignores the comment and presses on. 

Then, in a telling slip, Stevens says “I’m a lawyer. I believe in going against people who get hurt.” 

The resurfaced audio adds another chapter to Stevens’ troubling history as a public servant, a record that tells the story of someone who consistently defends the powerful at the expense of the abused, a leader who prioritizes predators over protecting survivors. 

As a lawyer, Stevens chose to defend a teacher who was accused of sexually abusing three young girls. He ended up pleading guilty to three counts of statutory rape, three counts of sex offense with a student, and five counts of taking indecent liberties with a student. 

As a legislator, Stevens didn’t just advocate against the SAFE Child Act. She also blocked a bill that was meant to protect foster children from abuse. According to a WRAL documentary, Stevens blocked the bill because it was “too broad” and that it would give the NC Department of Health and Human Services too much power. 

And as a candidate, Stevens fundraised alongside Harvey West–  a convicted sex offender who served six years in prison for taking indecent liberties with a child. Stevens claimed that she didn’t know West, but she was Facebook friends with him and had appeared on his wife Kim West’s podcast to promote the picnic. 

This is more than a few isolated incidents– it’s who Sarah Stevens is. Time after time, she has used her position to protect people who prey on the vulnerable. 

Stevens’ voting record in the General Assembly tells the same story. When North Carolinians faced massive electric hikes, she sided with the corporate monopoly. When North Carolinians’ drinking water was being poisoned, she sided with the polluters. And when our reproductive freedoms were being threatened, she helped write the ban. 

North Carolinians are speaking out against Stevens. Katie Trout, a survivor and advocate for victims of childhood sexual abuse, is one of those brave people. Back in 2019, Trout was advocating to legislators for the SAFE Child Act. She named Stevens as “probably the biggest impediment to [the legislation] passing.”

Trout had a clear message for voters. “ I hope that before you go into the voting booth, you will just think about all the people you know who have been impacted by sexual assault and abuse, and just think about the impacts that your vote does have on them,” she said. “There are real-life consequences for who we vote for and who we put into office.” 

Sarah Stevens is running to join North Carolina’s highest court– the body that makes decisions on critical issues like public safety, reproductive rights, voting rights, school funding, utility rates, and so much more. 

Thankfully, we have a great alternative in Justice Anita Earls– a civil rights attorney who has devoted her career to protecting everyday North Carolinians. Most recently, she stood up for ratepayers in a case over Duke Energy profits. She’s a key voice who has brought both fairness and accountability to the Supreme Court, and we have the opportunity to re-elect her to another term this November. 

North Carolina needs someone they can trust on the state’s highest court. We need someone who isn’t afraid to hold the powerful accountable, someone who has the courage to stand up for what’s fair and just. We couldn’t trust Sarah Stevens to do that as a legislator, and we certainly can’t trust her to do it on the North Carolina Supreme Court.