“It's up to a judge or a jury of his peers,” the senator said. “It's not for me to determine what happens next. … Let me … tell you how uncomfortable this is for me and my family. This is not anything that I asked to have thrown in my lap. I trust in our system. It's up for a jury of his peers to really determine.”

A judge Tuesday set bail at $15,000. The judge also said Gerhart must stay at least 1,000 feet away from the senator and the senator's family if he is able to post bail.

Under Oklahoma law, blackmail can involve a written communication that threatens to expose information about someone “which would in any way subject such person to the ridicule or contempt of society.”

Under the law, blackmail occurs if the intent of the communication is “to extort or gain any thing of value from another or to compel another to do an act against his or her will.”