A former Democratic candidate for the Virginia state legislature whose explicit online videos made national headlines two years ago has been arrested in a domestic violence case.

The New York Post reported that 42-year-old Susanna Gibson Payne was arrested Sept. 22 in Henrico County on a charge of assault and battery of a family member.

She turned herself in and was later released, the newspaper reported.

Gibson told the New York Post that her estranged husband, 44-year-old lawyer John David Gibson, was behind the charge and denied any wrongdoing.

Ex Virginia candidate Susanna Gibson, who made online sex vids, arrested for domestic violence https://t.co/sCGb1PvSpO pic.twitter.com/AnAZVfGeWp

— New York Post (@nypost) October 1, 2025

“After my estranged husband, arrested three times since I filed for divorce, assaulted me during a June 2025 custody exchange while I protected our son, he filed a retaliatory criminal complaint against me,” she said.

“More than three months later, police issued a misdemeanor warrant for my arrest. I turned myself in immediately,” Gibson added.

Arrest records reviewed by the news outlet showed John Gibson had been arrested last December on several charges, including violation of a protective order, extortion, and use of threatening language.

Those incidents came just days after Susanna Gibson requested a protective order against him alleging “family abuse.”

The order was granted the following month.

Susanna Gibson was a Democratic candidate in 2023, running as a nurse and mother on a progressive platform in the Richmond area.

Her campaign was rocked when it was discovered she had been engaging in sex acts with her husband on the porn site Chaturbate.

The videos, which she claimed were made only to fulfill her husband’s fantasy, had been recorded live and later stored on another website without her knowledge.

The New York Post noted she was accused of soliciting tips in exchange for performing specific sex acts on camera.

She denied making the videos for money.

“It won’t intimidate me and it won’t silence me,” Gibson said at the time, calling the leak a violation of Virginia’s revenge porn law and labeling it “a form of sexual abuse.”

“My political opponents and their Republican allies have proven they’re willing to commit a sex crime to attack me and my family because there’s no line they won’t cross to silence women when they speak up,” she added.

Gibson refused to exit the 2023 race, which she lost by roughly 700 votes to Republican David Owen.

The Daily Mail had reported before the election that Gibson would let viewers make requests for sex acts and would perform them if someone paid.

Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.