Venture capitalist Michael Goguen filed a defamation suit Tuesday against a Midwestern politician he says falsely branded him as “the owner of a teenage sex slave” during a Republican debate.

Goguen alleges Missouri gubernatorial candidate John Brunner slandered him while attacking a rival whom Goguen is backing.

Brunner said, “I refuse to be lectured by a guy who took $1 million from the owner of a teenage sex slave,” Goguen’s filing says.

Goguen calls the claim “utterly false,” although he was sued earlier this year by ex-stripper Amber Laurel Baptiste, who accused him of subjecting her to “countless hours of forced sodomy.”