Updated: (1:30 p.m. Aug. 30) This story has been updated to include a statement from Todd Meyer.

Updated: (5 p.m. Aug. 29) This story has been updated to include Gov. Holcomb's comment on the initial story.

A former prosecutor hired by Gov. Eric Holcomb to help reform the state's child services agency resigned one day after a college intern reported him to human resources, IndyStar has learned.

The intern said Department of Child Services Associate Director Todd Meyer, the agency's No. 2 official, made inappropriate comments at work and sent her dozens of personal text messages, sometimes late at night and on weekends.

The texts were not sexually explicit and some were work related, but the intern considered many of them creepy and inappropriate. In texts she said she showed state officials prior to Meyer's resignation, Meyer told the intern "you smell very nice." In another he said he wanted to "hang out" with her. He shared songs with her, including a grunge love song, and repeatedly asked her if she was hanging out in her parents' swimming pool, once teasing her that she probably pees in the pool.

"At first, I just thought he was being nice and trying to make me feel comfortable,” the intern told IndyStar. “Then he would start texting me later at night or on weekends. I felt it was odd. He was making me uncomfortable ... He was taking advantage of my position and the power he had over me.”

IndyStar is not identifying the intern due to the nature of the allegations. Meyer did not respond to several phone messages from IndyStar and did not answer when IndyStar knocked on the door of his home in Lebanon. DCS and the state's personnel department have refused to provide any information about the reasons behind Meyer's abrupt resignation.

After this story was published online, Meyer provided a statement to Fox59 that he "should not have communicated in the manner I did."

"I am sorry for doing so and I apologize," he said. "I have learned from this mistake such that it will never happen again. These messages were intended to be received in a positive and friendly manner, but I now recognize they were not, and I understand."

The intern told IndyStar she reported Meyer's behavior to human resources on July 15. Meyer resigned with no public explanation the next day.

The state's handling of Meyer's departure raises broader concerns about how allegations against powerful figures remain hidden from public view. Had he been fired, state law would require DCS to provide the reason.

His quiet exit stood in contrast to the way his hiring was handled last year in June, when the governor announced in a news release that Meyer had been hired into a newly created position to help reform the long-troubled agency.

Meyer was held up as a fierce advocate of vulnerable children when Holcomb announced his hiring last year. He had been Boone County's elected prosecutor since 2002 and a county council member before that. He also founded Sylvia’s Child Advocacy Center in Lebanon, which provides services for abused children.

Meyer, who is 47 and married, recruited the intern in May after viewing her profile and photo on LinkedIn, a business networking website, the intern said. She said he told her he had done a search for someone studying law and looking for an internship.

“He sent me a message on LinkedIn totally out of the blue,” she said. “I didn’t put my name out there or contact him first. I had a gut feeling it was creepy, but then I thought it could be an awesome opportunity.”

After discussing it with her parents, she decided to take the internship.

The texts began almost immediately

Meyer, who became her direct supervisor, began texting her soon after she started, she said. IndyStar obtained some of those messages this week.

During the second week of her internship, Meyer sent her a text message at 6:23 p.m. on a weekday after learning she was a fan of Wheel of Fortune.

"So, Vanna, I presume you already have this app?!" he said with a link to the Wheel of Fortune app. “Vanna”—That’s gonna be my nickname for you now—BTW!"

He punctuated his message with a winky face emoji with its tongue hanging out.

Two weeks later, at about 10 p.m., he texted: "OMG! I can’t be the first person to tell you this, but, it’s remarkable — I’m watching US Open golf coverage tonight and a spot on the US Women’s Soccer Team comes on and their (sic) you are on the tv. You and Alex Morgan have a stringing resemblance. You two could be twins!!"

One day in the office, she said, he asked her, "What's your scent?"

"I said 'what does that mean?'' she recalled. "He said, 'Your perfume smells so good.' I was taken aback and so flustered. I said something like, 'It was something my mom got me.'"

Later that night, Meyer began texting her. “It’s just that you smell very nice and I was curious to know what your secret elixir is,” he said, adding a smiley face emoji.

He then sent her a link to the perfume's website and said he was "totally intrigued."

"So if you dont mind me asking—what's your 'essence' within their line. I get that it meshes with your own body's fragrance, but, which one do you like?"

The intern said she initially felt obligated to respond politely to her supervisor's texts, but later stopped replying to texts that didn't involve work-related matters.

"I didn't feel comfortable saying, 'Don't text me, it's inappropriate. I had let him text me before and I didn't know how to go about ending it," she said.

The messages grew more frequent and concerning as her internship continued, she said.

"It started happening more, random things, like we're buddies," she said. "He was my supervisor. He is second in line at DCS and I'm an intern. I didn't tell my parents. I didn't want them to get freaked out. It was a good internship and it was good for my resume."

Finally it had become too much

Around the Fourth of July weekend, she said things became too much.

Meyer sent a text message telling his intern his pool was cloudy.

"I'm sure all the kids and dudes in the pool on the 4th using it as a restroom didn't help!!!" he said, adding a emoji gritting its teeth. He then asked about her pool, referring to her as "pool girl."

"I've bet you peed in it at least once, don't lie (winky face emoji with tongue out)—or surely one of your friends. My guy friends are terrible...they'll be in the pool all day drinking beers and they never get out!"

When she didn't reply, he texted: "Okay—I'll let you off answering the pool pee question—I know the answer anyway (winky face emoji) What are you up to tonight?!"

She replied: "Just with my parents and some of their friends hanging out!"

She told IndyStar the message was an effort to emphasize her relative youth.

"Yep!" he replied. "I'd like to hang out with you."

It was after 9 p.m. on a Saturday. That's when she told her parents. They encouraged her to report him.

When she hadn't replied to Meyer's suggestion, or a subsequent text from him on Sunday, she said, he texted her Monday morning about a letter he planned to send to U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler to help her obtain an internship with the Department of Justice.

He never sent the letter, she said. To her, it reflected a pattern he used when she failed to respond to his prompts. He sometimes dangled offers of assistance with her professional career, she said.

"I think it’s ironic," she told IndyStar. "He is supposed to be a public figure helping other people. He’s a lawyer. He took ethics classes. He’s very smart and educated. He knew what he was doing was wrong. It wasn’t a one-mistake, one-time thing. It was meticulously planned."

She said she reported him to HR on July 15, breaking down into tears. When Meyer approached her later that day about an unrelated work issue, she knew she couldn't stay. She called her mom and quit that day.

The intern said she felt the agency's human resources staff took her concerns seriously and showed support. She was also glad to learn he is no longer employed by the state.

"I reported him because I knew his behaviors were out of line," she said, "and I felt I owed it to myself and those after me to try to ensure no one was in my position again."

'Powerful guys get to quit and then move on'

Jennifer Drobac, an Indiana University law professor, called the text messages "perplexing" and "completely inappropriate." She said the intern was put in an untenable situation by her supervisor and expressed concern when employers — especially government entities — allow quiet resignations in these kinds of situations.

"That allows the perpetrator to go on to a new job and then the new employer doesn’t know what this person's history is or doesn’t know to watch out," Drobac said. "If these powerful guys get to quit and then move on, they don’t get the message that what they’re doing is bad, harmful and completely socially unacceptable and abusive to people. This poor woman lost her job probably because of this guy and all the experience and opportunity that would have gone along with it."

Not only was the public left in the dark about the reasons for Meyer's resignation, so too was the DCS staff.

A two-sentence agency-wide email notifying staff of his departure the day after he resigned made no mention of any complaints against him.

"Dear staff," the email obtained by IndyStar stated. "Associate Director Todd Meyer has left DCS to pursue other opportunities. We thank Todd for his contributions over the past year."

DCS would not answer any questions about the reasons for Meyer's exit. Holcomb and DCS Director Terry Stigdon declined interview requests.

Initially, state officials would not say whether Meyer remains eligible for employment within state government or whether they agreed to keep the complaint a secret in exchange for his resignation.

Holcomb's press secretary Rachel Hoffmeyer issued the following statement:

"Gov. Holcomb has repeatedly stated there is no place in state government for harassment of any kind. Any state employee that feels uncomfortable should know they can come forward and report. The State Personnel Department investigates 100 percent of claims."

After this story was published online, Holcomb said after an unrelated public appearance that Meyer would not be able to work in state government again.

“I am disgusted by what I read," he said, "beyond disappointed."

He defended the state's actions.

"The process did work from the state’s perspective," he said. "We always keep the victim first in mind."

Before joining DCS, Meyer, who like Holcomb is a Republican, had a long career in local politics. He decided to run last year for Boone County Circuit Court judge instead of seeking a fifth term as prosecutor. He lost in the May 2018 primary. DCS hired him a month later.

“I’m honored by this opportunity to impact the lives of our most vulnerable,” Meyer said at the time.

Meyer joined DCS at a critical time. The agency's former director, Mary Beth Bonaventura, had resigned in 2017 with a scathing resignation letter warning that children would die if Holcomb's administration continued its existing policies.

Holcomb responded by ordering an outside review of the agency, which resulted in a set of recommendations in June 2018. Meyer was hired to implement those recommendations. His 2018 compensation is listed in a state database as $145,686.

The agency did not answer questions about the impact of Meyer's resignation on the ongoing reform effort.

IndyStar reporter Shari Rudavsky contributed to this story.

Call IndyStar reporter Chris Sikich at 317-444-6036. Follow him on Twitter: @ChrisSikich.

Contact IndyStar reporter Tony Cook at 317-444-6081 or tony.cook@indystar.com. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter: @IndyStarTony.