Republican lawmaker Dan Johnson commits suicide amid molestation allegations

WASHINGTON: A Republican lawmaker has committed suicide after denying accusations of sexually molesting a teenage girl, police said.

Dan Johnson, 56, shot himself on a bridge in Mount Washington, Kentucky, on Wednesday night, according to WDRB-TV in Louisville. The gun was recovered by the police, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Kentucky Centre for Investigative Reporting published an expose on Monday detailing allegations that Johnson forced himself on the 17-year-old victim who was a friend of his daughter's after a New Year's Eve party in 2012.

Johnson denied the allegations on Tuesday. 

He said the accuser was a member of his church, and that the claims were, in part, politically motivated.

Johnson also acknowledged that he messaged the girl on Facebook in January 2013, saying that he did not remember what happened on the night of the alleged encounter and that he had been "drugged" at a local bar.

However, he later said he did remember what happened that night but denied ever entering the room where the girls were sleeping. 

Johnson was elected to the state legislature in 2016.