CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Removed as chairman of West Virginia’s primary legislative committee. his position by ward management on Wednesday after being charged with indecent exposure and disorderly conduct.
Republican Sen. Mike Maroney, who chairs the state Senate Health and Human Resources Committee, was arrested Tuesday on two misdemeanor counts following an Aug. 4 incident at Gumby’s Cigarette & Beer World in Glen Dale.
Marshall County Prosecutor Joe Canestraro said employees working on surveillance video allegedly saw Maroney “engaging in sexual pleasure” in the facility’s video lottery room at 1 p.m. Maroney was the only person in the room at the time, Canestraro said.
Gumby’s employees then called the Glen Dale Police Department.
Maroney, who has served in the state senate since 2016, did not immediately return an email request for comment Wednesday.
Senate President Craig Blair, a Republican, said he was stripping Maroney of the title of Health and Human Resources chairman and all other committee responsibilities to “give her the time she needs to devote to personal matters.”
In a statement, Blair said he was “deeply concerned” for the well-being of Maroney, whom Blair referred to as a friend.
“The facts that have been determined are troubling and I’m disappointed,” Blair said, adding, “While the allegations are still under investigation, if true, this allegation clearly does not meet the standards we expect from our elected leaders. In the West Virginia State Senate.”
Maroney, 56, is just months into his second four-year term as a state senator. He ran for re-election but was defeated in the May primary by Chris Rose, a utility electrician and former coal miner.
Maroney’s loss came after he publicly advocated against a Republican caucus bill that would have allowed some students who don’t attend traditional public institutions or participate in extracurriculars like sports to be exempt from immunizations typically required for day care or school-age children. .
West Virginia is one of the few states in the United States that offers medical-only exemptions to vaccination requirements. Maroney, a radiologist from Marshall County, called the bill an “embarrassment” in the Senate and said he believes lawmakers are hurting the state.
During the debate, this year’s vaccine bill was finally passed It was vetoed by Republican Governor Jim JusticeMaroney said: “I vowed to do no harm. I have zero chance to vote for this bill.”
Maroney also fell out of favor with some Republicans last year when he spoke out against an outright ban on medical interventions for transgender teens, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy. During one of his committee meetings, he told his fellow lawmakers that he believed it was wrong for a group of “mostly untrained people” to pass laws banning proven medical treatments.
Maroney likened banning hormone therapy to banning the use of drugs to treat mental health disorders and cancer.
If convicted of disorderly conduct, Maroney could face up to 24 hours in jail, a fine of up to $100, or both. For indecent exposure, he could face up to a year in jail, a $500 fine, or both.