Rhode Island Governor's son may be charged

The son of Rhode Island’s Governor, 18-year-old Caleb Chafee, allegedly hosted a high school graduation party with alcohol at his family’s Exeter home. State police discovered the party when they rescued an inebriated girl who says Caleb told her to leave the party and call 911 once she was off the property. She ended up hospitalized. This is barely a month after he pleaded no contest to charges of “being a person under 21 entering an establishment to buy alcohol”.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee’s response to the media? According to news radio station WPRO 630 he said, “I am very proud of what Caleb has done in school, … in a very, very competitive Portsmouth Abbey environment …Youngsters let off steam… and we will deal with some of the issues in a private way.”

Dealing with these issues privately seems to be a privilege not offered to other Rhode Island residents, like Jesse Poznanski  or Providence Police Chief’ Col. Dean Esserman or even former Chariho School Committee member Terri Serra, all of whom have been greatly impacted by Rhode Island’s Social Host laws in the past year or so.

The state’s Attorney General will decide whether to press charges shortly. According to attorney Lou Pulner, who was interviewed tonight by Matt Allen, the WPRO 630 radio show host who first broke this story earlier today, Caleb’s relationship to the Governor is the only reason the state’s Attorney General would even consider getting involved in this investigation.