A first-time state lawmaker in Kentucky, U.S. Dan Johnson, has committed suicide after a report emerged that he sexually assaulted a woman when she was 17.
Multiple US news outlet report that the 57-year-old lawmaker, a preacher and a Republican, shot himself on a bridge in Mount Washington, southeast of Louisville. The death has been ruled as suicide by local coroner Dave Billings.
Johnson’s body turned up on a riverbank near the bridge and the weapon reportedly was found at the scene.
Rep. Johnson took to Facebook on Wednesday to post about the accusations levelled against him, claiming they were “false” and “only GOD knows the truth.”
On Monday, the Kentucky Centre for Investigative Reporting published an account from a woman claiming that Johnson sexually assaulted her in the early morning hours of January 1, 2013.
The woman said she attended a party at his home on the night of the incident. She reportedly fell asleep on a sofa and woke up to Johnson kneeling over her. He proceeded to kiss her, grope her breasts under her shirt, put his hand down her pants and penetrate her with his finger, she said.
The woman said she reported the incident but Louisville police closed the case without charges. However, her account was corroborated by family members, by her therapist’s notes from the first half of 2013 and by Facebook messages she exchanged with Johnson, the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting wrote.
Johnson told reporters on Tuesday that the accusations were “totally false.” But leaders of the state Republican and Democratic parties had called for the representative to resign.
