The Montgomery hostess who accused former state Rep. Perry Hooper of sexually abusing her claimed Thursday that he suggested he would get away with the offense because of his stature in Alabama politics.

Elizabeth Daly’s statement, issued Thursday through her attorney, Dianne James Davis, also claimed Hooper “betrayed and violated” their agreement for her to request the charges be dropped in exchange for Hooper publicly apologizing, taking accountability “for his actions” and never speaking negatively about her.

The charges were ultimately dropped by the Montgomery County district attorney’s office last month.

Daly was referring to Hooper’s lawsuit filed Wednesday against the city of Montgomery, the Montgomery Police Department and its police chief accusing them of arresting him in an “obvious political set-up by [his] political enemies.”

Hooper has been a longtime outspoken supporter of former President Trump in public statements and opinion pieces for media outlets. His lawsuit suggests that is a reason for an effort to discredit him.

Daly suggested the lawsuit was a violation of their agreement; she and Davis denied Hooper’s claim of an anti-Trump conspiracy.

“I have been in the long, slow process of healing, which has included extending sincere forgiveness to Mr. Hooper every single day; although it is now clear that my forgiveness and dismissal of charges was based on a false statement from Mr. Hooper,” she said.

Hooper’s lawsuit also included a request for a copy of the video of the alleged incident and referred to the footage as “laughable.”

Daly said she was “heartbroken” over the suit, “but most importantly, I am outraged as a victim, a woman, and a human being, that in the year of 2023, we are still getting sexual assault so wrong that a video of a woman being assaulted is classified as ‘laughable.’”

“Sexual assault victims, women, and true men everywhere must now grapple with the knowledge that a man or anyone assuming ownership over another’s body, for any length of time, is an event to place in the ‘Comedy Genre,’” the statement went on to say. “This is a disgusting low point and is irresponsibly glorifying Rape Culture and misogyny. The video in its entirety (which is more than 2.2 seconds), tells a powerful story of sexual assault as a crime of opportunity, ownership, and degradation.”

Recounting the alleged assault, Daly said a man with Hooper told him, ‘I would never get away with doing something like that.’”

“Before I had a chance to process the assault or supportive remark and respond Mr. Hooper interjected, stating: ‘I’ll get away with it, because I am Perry Hooper’ A statement I will never forget, as I knew it was meant to serve as a warning and a boast. No matter how many times I reflect and relive that particular evening, I have yet to find a ‘laughable’ moment, as Mr. Hooper alluded to in his pleadings.”