{"id":3110,"date":"2026-06-23T22:11:46","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T22:11:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3110"},"modified":"2026-06-23T22:11:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T22:11:46","slug":"nc-court-hopeful-says-she-didnt-even-know-sex-offender-but-records-show-ties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3110","title":{"rendered":"NC court hopeful says she \u2018didn\u2019t even know\u2019 sex offender. But records show ties"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Sarah Stevens, the Republican candidate in North Carolina\u2019s 2026 Supreme Court race, said in a recent interview<\/a> that she \u201cdidn\u2019t even know\u201d Harvey West, a convicted sex offender whose fundraising picnic she attended last year.<\/p>\n

Read more How NC\u2019s 11th Congressional District could help shape a national Democratic wave<\/a><\/p>\n

However, Stevens has documented ties to West and his wife, Kim, that range before and after the much-discussed fundraiser.<\/p>\n

In the weeks leading up to the event, Stevens appeared alongside Kim on her podcast<\/u><\/a> to promote the picnic. At the fundraiser \u2014 which was hosted at the Wests\u2019 home in Plymouth \u2014 Stevens was a featured speaker, as was Harvey. She accepted campaign contributions from the event and, as of this week, Stevens remains friends with Harvey on her personal Facebook account.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all but impossible that Sarah Stevens didn\u2019t know about Harvey West\u2019s status as a convicted child predator,\u201d Anderson Clayton, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, said in a statement to The News & Observer. \u201cWhat Stevens knows is that voters find her association with Harvey West toxic, and now she\u2019s lying to try to save her campaign from ruin \u2014 all while refusing to give up the money she raised from West.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement to The N&O, Stevens said she did not remember the podcast and that she \u201chad not met either of the West family until that day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not make a habit of conducting a criminal record check on all the individuals I meet on the campaign trail,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n

As for her Facebook, she said she\u2019s accepted many friends on the platform \u201cand I don\u2019t personally know them all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stevens, a nine-term lawmaker in the state House, resigned her seat last week<\/u><\/a>, saying she needed to focus on her Supreme Court campaign.<\/p>\n

Her most recent comments about West come from an interview with the North State Journal<\/u><\/a>, in which she said \u201cI had no idea he was on a sexual offender registry \u2026 or that he was put there 24 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

West, who has held multiple leadership roles within the NC GOP, pleaded guilty in 2000 to several charges of indecent liberties with a minor younger than 16 and served six years in prison. Upon his release, he was required to register as a sex offender. He has since been taken off the sex offender registry.<\/p>\n

News circulated about West\u2019s sex offender status in 2012, when he was selected to be an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention. He resigned the position<\/a> shortly after the news broke.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Associated Press<\/u><\/a> at the time, West denied the crimes and said he pleaded guilty to get a lesser sentence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no way you can defend yourself. This is who I am, and this is what happened to me,\u201d he said. \u201cI was given my right to vote back, and I have a right to the political process. When do I get to live my life?\u201d<\/p>\n

West\u2019s history once again dominated headlines earlier this year, when the Asheville Watchdog reported<\/u><\/a> on his ties to GOP leadership and candidates through his annual \u201cDown East Judicial Picnic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more The Stanley Cup visits NC\u2019s State Legislative Building. Were the tarps off?<\/a><\/p>\n

While top Republican leaders have spoken little about West\u2019s influence publicly, the NC GOP approved a new rule at its convention earlier this month that appears motivated by his history.<\/p>\n

The rule, which proponents say took years to get approved, bars anyone with sexual abuse, violent felonies or child abuse convictions from holding party office, the N&O reported<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Asheville Watchdog<\/u><\/a>, West said the new requirement would not end the controversy over his involvement in the GOP.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re too late. I\u2019ve been involved for 20 years,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can\u2019t put that toothpaste back in the tube.\u201d<\/p>\n

Candidates who attended the Wests\u2019 Down East Judicial Picnics received donations from a PAC called the Al-Pam Republican Club.<\/p>\n

During a Facebook interview in 2023<\/u><\/a>, Kim West said that all the funds raised went to the candidates who attended.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether there\u2019s a primary or not, if they come, they get a contribution,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Since 2014, the Al-Pam Republican Club has made just under 50 donations to Republican candidates, totaling roughly $100,000.<\/p>\n

Chief Justice Paul Newby and Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin both received donations from the PAC, alongside justices Phil Berger Jr., Richard Dietz and Trey Allen.<\/p>\n

Stevens herself accepted a $4,000 contribution from the PAC in October of last year.<\/p>\n

In her statement to the N&O, Stevens said the contributions \u201cwere from the people of the First District,\u201d referring to the congressional district in which the Wests\u2019 home is located.<\/p>\n

Democrats have continued to hammer Stevens over the donations, with protesters arriving at the legislature last month with signs demanding that she \u201creturn the pedophile\u2019s money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked for her response to the protest, Stevens told The N&O last month \u201cit\u2019s just all nonsense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Sen. Warren implies NC\u2019s Tillis is chicken, makes bok bok sounds at him during hearing<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NC Supreme Court candidate faces scrutiny after attending a fundraising picnic hosted by Harvey and Kim West and accepting PAC contributions tied to the event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nNC court hopeful says she \u2018didn\u2019t even know\u2019 sex offender. But records show ties - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3110\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NC court hopeful says she \u2018didn\u2019t even know\u2019 sex offender. But records show ties - Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"NC Supreme Court candidate faces scrutiny after attending a fundraising picnic hosted by Harvey and Kim West and accepting PAC contributions tied to the event.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3110\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-23T22:11:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3110#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3110\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"headline\":\"NC court hopeful says she \u2018didn\u2019t even know\u2019 sex offender. But records show ties\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T22:11:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3110\"},\"wordCount\":879,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3110#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b02be2865b36f3f29bdd77ebe7e37a9c.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Read today's Edition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3110#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3110\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3110\",\"name\":\"NC court hopeful says she \u2018didn\u2019t even know\u2019 sex offender. But records show ties - Durham Moving Hub\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3110#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3110#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b02be2865b36f3f29bdd77ebe7e37a9c.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T22:11:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3110#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3110\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3110#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b02be2865b36f3f29bdd77ebe7e37a9c.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b02be2865b36f3f29bdd77ebe7e37a9c.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"Rep. Sarah Stevens talks with Rep. Jimmy Dixon before the N.C. House session at the Legislative Building in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, July 29, 2025.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3110#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"NC court hopeful says she \u2018didn\u2019t even know\u2019 sex offender. But records show ties\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Durham Moving Hub\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"NC court hopeful says she \u2018didn\u2019t even know\u2019 sex offender. But records show ties - Durham Moving Hub","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3110","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"NC court hopeful says she \u2018didn\u2019t even know\u2019 sex offender. But records show ties - Durham Moving Hub","og_description":"NC Supreme Court candidate faces scrutiny after attending a fundraising picnic hosted by Harvey and Kim West and accepting PAC contributions tied to the event.","og_url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3110","og_site_name":"Durham Moving Hub","article_published_time":"2026-06-23T22:11:46+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3110#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3110"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85"},"headline":"NC court hopeful says she \u2018didn\u2019t even know\u2019 sex offender. But records show ties","datePublished":"2026-06-23T22:11:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3110"},"wordCount":879,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3110#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b02be2865b36f3f29bdd77ebe7e37a9c.jpg","articleSection":["Read today's Edition"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3110#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3110","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3110","name":"NC court hopeful says she \u2018didn\u2019t even know\u2019 sex offender. But records show ties - Durham Moving Hub","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3110#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3110#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b02be2865b36f3f29bdd77ebe7e37a9c.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-23T22:11:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3110#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3110"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3110#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b02be2865b36f3f29bdd77ebe7e37a9c.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b02be2865b36f3f29bdd77ebe7e37a9c.jpg","width":1200,"height":675,"caption":"Rep. Sarah Stevens talks with Rep. Jimmy Dixon before the N.C. House session at the Legislative Building in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, July 29, 2025."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3110#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"NC court hopeful says she \u2018didn\u2019t even know\u2019 sex offender. But records show ties"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/","name":"Durham Moving Hub","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/durhammovinghub.com"],"url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}