Gay senator David Norris is withdrawing his bid for President of Ireland after it was revealed that he sought clemency for a former partner convicted of the statutory rape of a 15-year-old boy

The revelation dealt a mortal blow to Norris’ campaign, which was also sustained damage when the candidate’s remarks supporting “classical pedophilia” were republished in 2011. Norris had said in a 2002 interview that he does not believe in an age of consent law for sexual activity, remarks the interviewer later called “deeply disturbing.” Norris also reportedly confirmed this belief in a letter to supporters in 2011. Norris’ decision to withdraw was announced amidst revelations that he had sent a clemency letter to Israeli authorities on behalf of his former homosexual partner, Ezra Yizhak Nawi. Nawi was convicted in an Israeli court in 1997 of the statutory rape of a 15-year-old Palestinian boy. Norris continued his relationship with Nawi for four years after his conviction. The revelations prompted three members of the Irish Parliament, Finian McGrath, John Halligan and Thomas Pringle, to formally withdraw their support for the Senator. Two of Norris’ key staff members, director of communications Jane Cregan and director of elections Derek Murphy, also announced their resignation. In a statement this afternoon outside his Dublin home, Norris said that he did not regret supporting Nawi but admitted that he now considers himself to have been “wrong.”