Accused lawmaker kills self
FOX NEWS - The death of a state representative -- who apparently committed suicide Wednesday after being accused of molestation -- sent more shock waves through a Kentucky Statehouse already rocked by other sexual misconduct scandals.
State Rep. Dan Johnson, 57, appeared to have shot himself just days after a woman reportedly alleged that he had sexually assaulted her on New Year’s Day in 2013 when she was 17, according to police and the local coroner. An autopsy was planned for Thursday.
The accusation against Johnson was published Monday by the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting (KyCIR), which also cast doubt on the Republican’s claim that he had set up a morgue at Ground Zero after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
According to KyCIR, Johnson forced himself on his accuser.
Johnson said at a news conference at his church Tuesday that the claim “absolutely has no merit,” before adding he was “very sorrowful” that his accuser was “in this dark place in her life.”
The former pastor who reportedly called himself the “pope” initially said that he did not remember what happened on the night in question because he had been “drugged” at a bar.
He later backtracked and said he did recall that he never entered the accuser’s room, according to the Louisville Courier Journal.