Rep. Dan Johnson (R-Ken.) has committed suicide after accusations of molesting a 17-year-old girl were denied by him a day before the incident.
According to the report from WDRB.com in Louisville, Johnson shot himself off a bridge in Mt. Washington, Kentucky. The report also says police have recovered the gun.
On Monday, Johnson was the target of an exposé by the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, which claimed that the lawmaker forced himself on his daughter’s friend on the night of December 31, 2012, after a New Year’s Eve party.
The Louisville Courier-Journal subsequently said on Tuesday that Johnson had denied the accusation, saying that it was politically motivated, in part. He also said that the girl accusing him was a member of his church.
He originally admitted that he had messaged the same girl later, in January 2013, but that he was “drugged” at a local bar and couldn’t remember the incident in question. Later, he admitted that he did remember that night, but claimed that he had not entered the room in which his daughter and the alleged victim were sleeping.
Johnson was facing calls to resign from his state House seat on Monday after news of the allegation broke.
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