Embattled state Rep. David Stringer resigned from the Arizona Legislature on Wednesday afternoon, a stunning move that came as he refused to cooperate with an ethics investigation over his past sex-crime charges.

House Speaker Rusty Bowers announced he accepted Stringer's resignation in a press statement just before 5 p.m.

"I'm grateful that the House will not be forced to take action against one of our members, and we can begin to put this matter behind us," Bowers said.

The House Ethics Committee was investigating Stringer, a Prescott Republican, over revelations he was charged with sex crimes, including child pornography, in 1983.

The lawmaker also faced scrutiny over racist comments he made about immigrants and black people last year. Those comments led to widespread calls for his resignation at the time.

Stringer refused to resign for months, but reversed course around 4 p.m. Wednesday — an hour before a deadline the Ethics Committee had set for him to release records.

'Evidence ... must be damning'

Earlier in the day, Stringer's attorney, Carmen Chenal, had said he wouldn't comply and asked a Maricopa County judge to block the committee's subpoena and any effort to expel Stringer.

He refused to give the Ethics Committee documents, including a letter about his 1983 charges, or grant an interview to investigators.

Stringer apparently changed his mind minutes before the court was set to hear his challenge.

He sent Bowers a one-line resignation letter: "This is to confirm my resignation as State Representative for Legislative District 1, effective 4 p.m. this date, March 27, 2019."

Chenal declined to give additional comment Wednesday evening.

House Democrats, who attempted to expel Stringer in January, immediately welcomed the news.

Minority Co-Whip Reginald Bolding, D-Phoenix, said Stringer's actions were unbecoming of a legislator, particularly his comments about race.

"The evidence that he was trying to withhold from the Ethics Committee must be damning since he chose to quit rather than comply with a subpoena," Bolding said in a statement. "We hope that his replacement will serve with far more honor and integrity."

But the news was greeted somberly by some Republicans at the Capitol.

Rep. Noel Campbell, Stringer's Republican seatmate from Prescott and friend, said he was saddened when the lawmaker called him around 4 p.m. and said "he’d had enough of it."

"No human being can stand that kind of pressure and ostracization," Campbell told The Arizona Republic.

"You reach a point where you make a decision, ‘Is it worth it?’ And I’m sure he reached the decision where it wasn’t worth it to him to continue."

Republican, Democrat had filed complaints

The ethics investigation into Stringer started in late January, when Rep. Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa filed an ethics complaint amid revelations that Stringer was charged with sex crimes when he lived in Maryland 35 years ago.

Many details of Stringer's 1983 case are unknown given the matter was reportedly expunged, meaning records of the case were erased.

The Arizona Daily Independent, a conservative blog, reported in January that the 1983 case started when police officers showed up at Stringer's Maryland home over "false" accusations that he had pornography and had patronized prostitutes.

The facts of the case cannot be independently confirmed given police and court records were expunged.

Stringer has said he was never convicted of a crime: "There is no guilty plea, no conviction," Stringer told Prescott eNews, a news outlet in which he is an investor, in January. "I have no record, I have done nothing wrong."

Although he said he was never convicted of a crime, court records obtained by the Phoenix New Times show a Maryland court entered a judgment of guilt on some combination of charges.

Stringer also said "any kind of porn allegations were completely dismissed," but the disposition of that charge or charges is unclear from available court records.

He said he took a plea of "probation before judgment," a Maryland sentence that allows someone to have a charge cleared after completing probation. He was sentenced to 5 years of probation.

Court records also list another part of Stringer's apparent sentence: "Defendant is to seek admission to Dr. Berlin's Program at Hopkins." A man named Dr. Frederick Berlin is currently the director of the Sexual Behavior Consultation Unit at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

It's unclear if any additional information about those charges will be released as a result of the Ethics Committee investigation, which is now closed.

Bowers said the Ethics Committee will not release a formal investigation report, though it plans to release public records that attorneys obtained during their two-month inquiry.

There are no other pending investigations into Stringer's past actions.

'Clean slate' at the Capitol

While Towsend's complaint focused on Stringer's sex charges, Bolding filed a second complaint that also emphasized Stringer's past racist comments.

Calls for Stringer's resignation started last June, when he was filmed telling a room of Republican activists that immigration poses an “existential threat” to America, adding “there aren’t enough white kids to go around” in Arizona public schools.

He continued to make waves throughout the year with controversial comments and writings about race. Gov. Doug Ducey and numerous other leaders demanded he resign.

Rep. César Chávez, co-chairman of the Arizona Latino Legislative Caucus, said Wednesday that Stringer's resignation will allow the Capitol community to heal after his divisive comments.

“This cleans the Legislature," Chávez said. "It gives us a clean slate to continue working together in a bipartisan manner."

The process to fill Stringer's seat begins immediately.

Arizona law requires that the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors pick a replacement given Stringer was elected there. Whoever they pick must belong to the same political party.

Former state Senate President Steve Pierce, of Prescott, is expected to be a leading contender.

Reach the reporter at dustin.gardiner@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-2471. Follow him on Twitter: @dustingardiner.

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