By Darrell Halen

A state representative from Salem has been charged with assaulting his wife.

David C. Dalrymple, 65, 11 Sullivan Court, faces a charge of domestic simple assault. He was arrested on Dec. 31, after his wife, Janeen A. Dalrymple, 58, reported the alleged assault.

Janeen Dalrymple was granted a temporary restraining order against her husband. It requires him to have no contact with her and to stay 1,000 feet away from her.

According to Janeen Dalrymple’s petition for the order, filed Dec. 31, her husband told her the night before that he had her followed and her phone tapped. She claims he repeated several conversations that took place the previous Saturday.

Her husband, she claims, wanted her out of the house and demanded she go to the bank and withdraw money from a savings account.

He repeated his demands the following day. She claims she refused to go to the bank, told him wiretapping is illegal and wouldn’t comply with his demands.

Her husband became enraged, grabbed her shoulders, pinned her to the bed, put his fist to her face and threatened to break her jaw and kill her, according to her petition.

After being held down for several minutes and feeling pain in her shoulders, she told him she would go to the bank and wherever he wanted but wanted him first to go away for a while.

Later, as she followed him, she made a quick turn and went to the Salem Police Station.

In her petition, Janeen Dalrymple claims there has been a long history of verbal and physical abuse from her husband and she has feared for her safety. Her husband is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 245 pounds, according to a police log.

David Dalrymple is a Republican member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives. Janeen Dalrymple is a nurse and a former state legislator.

“The conversations I have on my cell phone include discussion about my patients, and now their privacy was violated by having my cell phone tapped,” she wrote in her petition.

On Jan. 25, a hearing will be heard in court to determine if the protective order should be extended for a year.