GLEN DALE, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A West Virginia State Senator has been arrested following an act of indecent exposure at a video gambling parlor.
According to a criminal complaint, police arrived at a gambling parlor in Glen Dale after employees called law enforcement because a customer was allegedly masturbating while gambling.
The employees told police that the suspect, State Senator Michael Maroney of Glen Dale, was allegedly touching himself.
They stated that Maroney came out of the gambling room and out to the ATM machine and was “breathing heavy and was touching himself.”
Unsure as to what was going on they started to observe him on security cameras, in doing so they witnessed him masturbating.
Employees contacted their supervisor who then instructed them to call the police.
Police responded to the establishment and found Maroney in the back room sitting in front of one of the poker machines.
Maroney was approached by police and questioned on what he was doing. He stated he was playing the machines but police advised him that the attendants had witnessed him masturbating.
The complaint alleges that Maroney then got defensive with police and stated he had not been masturbating.
Police then informed Maroney that there were cameras in the establishment that had caught his actions.
Maroney still denied the allegations and stated that he’d just leave after he finished his current game.
Once Maroney left, police reviewed the video where there were numerous times when he would “put his hands in his pants and begin to masturbate.”
Maroney was arrested and charged with Indecent Exposure and Disorderly Conduct. He is currently out on bond.
Senate President Craig Blair (R-Berkeley) released the following statement Wednesday morning following Maroney’s arrest.
“Above all, I am deeply concerned for our friend and colleague, Senator Mike Maroney. The facts that have emerged are troubling, and I am disappointed. However, in this time, our primary focus is on the well-being of Senator Maroney.
To give him appropriate time to dedicate to his personal issues, I have removed him as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Resources and have relieved him of all other committee responsibilities.
Like all citizens, Senator Maroney is entitled to full due process as this matter works its way through the legal system. We join in prayer for our friend Mike and his family as he deals with these issues.
While the charges are still under investigation, if true, this allegation is obviously not up to the standard of what we expect from our elected leaders in the State Senate of West Virginia.”
