CHARLESTON, West Virginia – The chairman of a key committee of the West Virginia state legislature was removed from his post by the chamber’s leadership on Wednesday after being accused of causing a public nuisance and disorderly conduct.

Republican Senator Mike Maroney, chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, was arrested Tuesday on the two misdemeanors following an incident at Gumby’s Cigarette on August 4. and Beer world in Glen Dale.

Marshall County Prosecutor Joe Canestraro said that employees allegedly saw on surveillance video Maroney performing “an act of sexual gratification” in the establishment’s video lottery room around 1 p.m. According to Canestraro, Maroney was the only person in the room at the time.

Gumby’s employees then called the Glen Dale Police Department.

Maroney, who has served in the state Senate since 2016, did not immediately respond to an email request for comment Wednesday.

Republican Senate President Craig Blair said he would strip Maroney of his title as chairman of the Health and Human Resources Committee and all other responsibilities “to give him sufficient time to devote to his personal affairs.”

In a statement, Blair said he was “deeply concerned” for the well-being of Maroney, whom Blair described as a friend.

“The facts that have come to light are disturbing and I am disappointed,” Blair said, later adding: “While the allegations remain under investigation, this allegation, if true, clearly does not meet the standard we expect from our elected representatives in the West Virginia State Senate.”

Maroney, 56, is just months away from completing his second four-year term as state senator. He ran for re-election but lost in the May primary to challenger Chris Rose, a utility electrician and former coal miner.

Maroney’s defeat came after he publicly opposed a GOP bill that would have allowed students who do not attend traditional public institutions or participate in extracurricular group activities such as sports to be exempt from vaccinations normally required for children entering daycare or school.

West Virginia is one of only a handful of states in the U.S. that grants exemptions from vaccine requirements for medical reasons only. Maroney, a radiologist from Marshall County, called the bill “an embarrassment” in the Senate and said he believes lawmakers would harm the state.

During the debate over this year’s vaccination bill, which was ultimately vetoed by Republican Governor Jim Justice, Maroney said, “I swore I would do no harm. There is no chance I can vote for this bill.”

Maroney also lost favor with some Republicans last year when he opposed a complete ban on medical interventions for transgender youth, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy. During a meeting of his committee, he told colleagues that he believed it was wrong for a group of “mostly medically uneducated people” to pass legislation that would ban proven medical treatments.

Maroney compared the ban on hormone therapy to the ban on the use of drugs to treat mental disorders and cancer.

If found guilty of disorderly conduct, Maroney faces 24 hours in jail, a fine of up to $100, or both. For public nuisance, he faces up to one year in jail, a fine of $500, or both.