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US Republican Dan Johnson found dead in 'suicide' near home in Kentucky

Dan Johnson has been found dead in Kentucky: AP
Dan Johnson has been found dead in Kentucky: AP

A Republican politician who was accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl at his Kentucky home has been found dead in an apparent suicide, the county coroner said.

Dan Johnson, 57, a state politician, who denied the allegations against him, died from a single gunshot wound last night in Mount Washington.

Bullitt county coroner Dave Billings said a post-mortem examination would take place today, adding: “I would say it is probably suicide.”

Mr Johnson was elected to the state legislature in 2016 in one of several Republican victories that gave the party control of the Kentucky House of Representatives for the first time in nearly a century. He won the election despite Republican leaders urging him to pull out after local media reported that he had compared Barack and Michelle Obama to monkeys on Facebook. Mr Johnson was pastor at the Heart Of Fire City Church in Louisville and had sponsored a number of bills relating to religious liberty and teaching the Bible in public schools.

But he was mostly out of the spotlight until Monday, when the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting published an account from a woman saying Mr Johnson sexually assaulted her in the basement of his home in 2013. The woman said she reported it to police, who investigated but closed the case without bringing charges.

On Tuesday, Mr Johnson held a news conference in his church and said the allegations were “totally false” and formed part of a nationwide campaign against conservative Republicans.

He referenced fellow Republican Roy Moore, who denies accusations of sexual misconduct by multiple women and lost a US Senate election in Alabama on Tuesday night. Shortly before 5pm on Wednesday, Mr Johnson posted on Facebook asking that people care for his wife.

He wrote that post-traumatic stress disorder “is a sickness that will take my life, I cannot handle it any longer. It has won this life, BUT HEAVEN IS MY HOME.” The post was later removed. The accusations against Mr Johnson emerged as a sexual harassment scandal involving four Republican politicians unfolded at the state capitol.

Ex-Republican house speaker Jeff Hoover stepped down after acknowledging he covertly settled a sexual harassment claim with a member of staff. He admitted sending inappropriate text messages but described them as “banter that was consensual” and denied harassment.

Mr Hoover wrote on Twitter last night: “I am very sad over the passing of Rep. Dan Johnson. Over the past few weeks in some of the darkest days of my life, he reached out to me, encouraged me, and prayed for me.”

Republican governor Matt Bevin said: “My heart breaks for his family tonight.”