U.S. lawmaker kills himself amid sexual misconduct allegations

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- A Republican state lawmaker in the U.S. central-eastern state of Kentucky has committed suicide after denying accusations of molesting a teenage girl, local media reported Wednesday.

Dan Johnson reportedly shot and killed himself on a bridge in Mt. Washington, Kentucky, according to WDRB.com in Louisville. The gun was recovered by police.

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

Johnson denied the allegations on Tuesday, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal. 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, a report in TheHill said, adding that Johnson said later on that he did remember what happened that night, and denied ever entering the room where the girls were sleeping. Enditem