Clay Chastain dismisses defamation lawsuit against Lenexa woman

Activist Clay Chastain has dismissed the defamation lawsuit he filed against a Lenexa woman.

Chastain filed suit last December, alleging that Anne Hodgdon defamed him in a 2015 Facebook post.

In it, she described an incident in 1994 in which he allegedly attempted to kiss her and tore open her blouse before she kneed him and ran away.

Chastain said in his suit that the allegation was “vicious, malicious and false,” and was made in part to undermine his election campaign to unseat Kansas City Mayor Sly James.

But since the suit was filed, they have had a chance to meet and discuss the incident, according to a joint written statement signed by Chastain and Hodgdon.

“Although Chastain and Hodgdon differ in their recollection of a few minor details, they agree that the evening in question did occur, and that they have resolved their differences regarding those events,” according to the statement.

In the statement, they agreed that she could not have been trying to influence the election because it had already taken place when the comments were posted.

Through their discussions, Chastain and Hodgdon have “come to respect the other for the person they are now today,” they said in the statement.

Chastain, a transit activist, also acknowledged that a “third party individual” had “sought to encourage” his lawsuit. Chastain said he would have no more communication with that person.

This story was originally published November 30, 2016 at 10:01 AM with the headline "Clay Chastain dismisses defamation lawsuit against Lenexa woman."