Former Gov. Barbara Roberts sympathized with the plight of Tiffany Edens, the rape victim who appeared in a re-election commercial for U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, but feared that her tragic story may have been used by the Smith campaign simply for political gain.

“Tiffany is a victim,” Roberts said to a crowd of 30 gathered outside of Democratic senate candidate Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) headquarters, where community leaders had gathered to condemn Smith’s ad. “She was a victim as a child. She may be the victim of dishonesty again. And that’s the bottom line.”

Edens, a former victim of serial rapist Richard Gillmore, came into the spotlight Friday when she appeared in an ad for the incumbent senator accusing Merkley of voting against extending the statute of limitations to keep sex offenders behind bars.

“I don’t want my senator to choose back-room political deals over making substantive changes to protect victims,” Edens said in a statement Monday. “Jeff Merkley wants to give serial rapists the option of freedom after 30 years. After 30 years, Richard Gillmore would be only 58. That is hardly old and frail. Jeff Merkley doesn’t understand: mandatory life means mandatory life in prison without parole.”