State senator in Rhode Island charged with extorting page for sex

Rhode Island Senate Minority Whip Nicholas Kettle, appears in Superior Court in Providence on Monday, Feb. 19, 2018. A grand jury indictment unsealed Monday accuses Kettle of extorting sex from a page in the Rhode Island Senate page program. Kettle, 27, of Coventry, pleaded not guilty and was released on $50,000 personal recognizance. (Steve Szydlowski/Providence Journal via AP)
Rhode Island Senate Minority Whip Nicholas Kettle, appears in Superior Court in Providence on Monday, Feb. 19, 2018. A grand jury indictment unsealed Monday accuses Kettle of extorting sex from a page in the Rhode Island Senate page program. Kettle, 27, of Coventry, pleaded not guilty and was released on $50,000 personal recognizance. (Steve Szydlowski/Providence Journal via AP)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A grand jury indictment unsealed Monday accuses a Republican state senator of extorting sex from a page in the Senate's page program.

The indictment was unsealed as Senate Minority Whip Nicholas Kettle was arraigned on two counts of extortion in Providence Superior Court. Kettle, of Coventry, is accused of extorting a male page for sex multiple times. He pleaded not guilty and was released on $50,000 personal recognizance.

The news prompted Democratic Senate President Dominick Ruggerio to again call for Kettle to resign immediately. He said he was "horrified and disgusted by these allegations."

"We in the Senate are deeply shaken," he said.

If Kettle refuses to step down, the Senate will pursue his expulsion, Ruggerio said. He said he also asked the Senate's chief legal counsel to conduct an immediate review of the page program.

"We have spoken to most of the pages to ensure that they are aware of their rights in the workplace as well as procedures for reporting anything inappropriate," Ruggerio said.

Kettle, who's 27 years old, was indicted last week, but the details of the extortion counts remained sealed over the weekend. State police separately charged Kettle with video voyeurism, accusing him of sending pictures of his ex-girlfriend's "private parts."

The indictment says Kettle extorted the page into sex on two occasions in 2011. The indictment names the page, but The Associated Press does not identify people who may be victims of sex crimes unless they come forward and agree to have their names published. The page's LinkedIn profile says he served as a page from February 2011 to May 2012.

Kettle, who's among five Republicans in the 38-member Senate, did not speak to reporters outside court and did not comment on whether he would resign, but his lawyer described the page as a political rival of Kettle's. State elections records show the page ran against Kettle as an independent in 2014, three years after the extortion is alleged to have occurred.

House Minority Leader Dennis Algiere also has called on Kettle to resign.

Senate spokesman Greg Pare said the Senate page program includes 67 pages, all hired at the recommendation of senators. The pages, who usually range in age from 15 through college age, help lawmakers with errands at the Rhode Island Statehouse. Pare said the page Kettle is alleged to have extorted for sex did not lodge any complaints while he was a page.

One of the Senate's 38 seats is open, and a special election is scheduled to fill it.

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