PIERRE, S.D. — A South Dakota legislator who admitted having sexual contact with two interns resigned on Monday, saying he regretted his actions during the past two legislative sessions.
Republican Rep. Mathew Wollmann, 26, said last week that both interns were over age 21 and that the contact during the 2015 and 2016 legislative sessions was consensual. But his colleagues voted to set up a committee to investigate his actions, and they were scheduled to meet today.
The former Marine didn’t immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press, but the Legislative Research Council provided a copy of his letter announcing his resignation.
The meeting on Wollmann’s conduct is still planned, said Republican Rep. Timothy Johns, chairman of the House Select Committee on Discipline and Expulsion.
Legislative rules don’t explicitly ban sexual contact or relationships between lawmakers and interns, although they do prohibit sexual harassment and call on lawmakers to maintain “the highest of moral and ethical standards.”
Wollmann, from the eastern South Dakota city of Madison, first won the seat in 2014. In the letter, Wollmann expressed his regret, writing that he hoped to return to the Legislature in the future.
“Those that read this should know that it is my wrongdoing that has put this institution in a sour light. Those responsible for me have displayed nothing but the highest honor for this establishment,” Wollmann wrote.
Wollmann’s public admission came shortly after a legislative committee voted down a new rule to explicitly bar legislators from sexual contact with interns and pages.
The House leaders said they will meet with lawmakers, interns and staff to discuss potential improvements to legislator and employee training legislative rules.