FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Kentucky's governor is facing backlash after he claimed that widespread school closures spurred by teacher demonstrations led to unattended children being sexually assaulted, poisoned and exposed to drugs.
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"You know how many hundreds of thousands of children today were left home alone? I guarantee you today somewhere in Kentucky a child was sexually assaulted that was left home because there was nobody there to watch them," Republican Gov. Matt Bevin told reporters on Friday.
"I guarantee you today a child was physically harmed or ingested poison because they were home alone because a single parent didn't have money to take care of them," he said, adding that "some we introduced to drugs for the first time because they were vulnerable and left alone."
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Bevin slammed the closures, saying that he was "offended by the idea that people so cavalierly, flippantly disregarded what was best for children."
The comments drew near-immediate backlash, with the Republican-led Kentucky House passing a pair of resolutions in condemnation.
Bevin's remarks came after dozens of Kentucky school districts canceled classes on Friday as teachers called out of work to attend demonstrations demanding increased education funding. According to the Kentucky Educator's Association, 10,000 teachers and supporters assembled at the state capitol for demonstrations that day.