A Republican U.S. House candidate in Maryland repeatedly opposed a state law to remove marriage as a defense for certain classes of rape and sexual assault, stating that under such legislation, “You just pat them in the wrong way, they take it sexually inappropriately.”

Neil Parrott, who served in the Maryland House of Delegates for 12 years, is running for a third time for the 6th Congressional District. Parrott and Democrat April McClain Delaney are vying for the Western Maryland House seat vacated by Rep. David Trone, who unsuccessfully ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.

In 2020, 2021 and 2022, Parrott was consistently among the small group of lawmakers who voted against attempts to repeal Maryland laws prohibiting defendants from being prosecuted for second-degree rape and fourth-degree sex offenses if the victim was married to the accused person or was incapacitated during the assault.