Kentucky state Representative Dan Johnson shot himself in the head on Wednesday, two days after he was accused of molesting a member of his church when she was 17 years old, The Washington Post reported.
Dave Billings, the coroner at Bullitt County, said Johnson died of “a penetrating gunshot wound to the head”, the newspaper report said. Billings said authorities were searching for Johnson, after someone read a post on his Facebook page and contacted the police.
The police tracked Johnson’s phone and found his body on Wednesday night, Reuters reported. While the post has been taken down, local media said it appeared to be a farewell note.
“Only GOD knows the truth, nothing is the way they make it out to be,” Johnson wrote. “I cannot handle it any longer . . . BUT HEAVEN IS MY HOME.”
Johnson, a Republican state representative, on Tuesday denied the allegations made in a report by the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, and said he will not step down, according to Reuters. The report said Johnson allegedly woke his daughter’s friend during a sleepover in 2013 and forced himself on her.
Johnson’s suicide comes at a time the US Congress is reviewing policies on how to handle sexual harassment cases, after some other lawmakers faced similar allegations against them.
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