Ex-Wife Of Wash. Legislator Calls Marriage 'Inappropriate'

ELLENSBURG, WA - A woman who married state Rep. Matt Manweller when she was 18 is speaking out about the relationship and calling it "inappropriate." OraLynn Reeve married Manweller 17 years ago after graduating from the Utah high school where he was her teacher and soccer coach.

Last week, the Seattle Times reported several incidents where Manweller, who represents the Ellensburg area, was accused of sexually harassing his Central Washington University students.

Manweller, 48, has denied those allegations, and has resisted calls to step down. He also contends that nothing inappropriate happened between he and Reeve while she was in high school.

Reeve spoke to reporters from The Olympian, Tacoma News Tribune, and the Northwest News Network on Friday. She said that Manweller groomed her to be his wife while she was his student.

“My truth, my story, is that I had a man that’s 12 years older than me, as a teacher in a position of power, take advantage of me, groom me to be a trophy wife, and prey on my insecurities,” she told the reporters.

Reeve also said nothing inappropriate happened between her and Manweller while she was under 18, but she did feel he flirted with her when she was as young as 16. Reeve moved to Hurricane, Utah, where Manweller was a teacher, from Boise when she was 16.

Although the marriage was legal, Reeve told the Northwest News Network that she was not mature enough to marry a 30-year-old man.

"I was not truly an adult, mentally," she said.

File photo: Republican Rep. Matt Manweller speaks on the House floor against a bill to raise Washington state's minimum wage, Tuesday, March 3, 2015, in Olympia, Wash. The measure, which would raise the minimum wage to $12 an hour over a four-year period, was passed by the House on a 51-46 vote and now heads to the Senate.

Photo by Rachel La Corte/Associated Press