A young Republican staffer who allegedly had an affair with Florida governor Charlie Crist was slapped with felony charges on August 5 for stealing nearly $20,000 in property from a pastor’s daughter, reports the Broward-Palm Beach New Times.
Fort Lauderdale police charged Jason Wetherington (pictured, left), who appeared in the Outrage documentary, with grand larceny, dealing in stolen property and false verification of ownership stemming from his late July house-sitting gig in Las Olas for Jennifer Thompson Jones. She is the daughter of Pastor Larry Thompson, leader of the influential First Baptist Church of Fort Lauderdale, where Wetherington is a member.
Wetherington allegedly stole three of Thompson’s rings, including her wedding and engagement rings, then pawned them at a shop in Deerfield Beach on July 20. In a message circulated on Facebook, Thompson said that Wetherington “confessed” to stealing her wedding ring and selling it, as well as stealing $5,000 from her parents’ safe, an accusation not included among the official charges.
Wetherington, 24, rose quickly in the GOP ranks as a teen, and served as regional field director for former Florida secretary of state Katherine Harris’ failed 2006 bid for U.S. senate. During that time, he came out to Pastor Thompson, and told numerous people that he was engaged in a sexual affair with Crist, then the attorney general. Crist denied the accusation.
