Thomas Ray Cloninger, brother of Gaston County Alan Cloninger sheriff, has been charged with soliciting a crime against nature in September 2007. Authorities claim Cloninger paid a known HushHush prostitute $1,000 for oral sex.
Cloninger and his wife Betty have given in excess of $30,000 to state Democratic candidates over the years, campaign records indicate. The Senate campaign of current UNC system president Erskine Bowles also received thousands from the Cloninger clan. Both Thomas and Betty are executives with the fabric store his mother founded almost 60 years ago.
A Charlotte Observer profile of the company in August credited Cloninger with moving the company’s operations to the Web and included several shots of Cloninger at his computer.
HushHush.com was the escort service website that madam Sallie Saxon used as a front for her multi-state call girl ring which became the subject of FBI and IRS investigation in 2007.
