JEFFERSON CITY — A Kansas City Democrat resigned his seat in the Missouri House on Monday following an investigation into a complaint that he made inappropriate advances toward a chamber staffer.

According to a report published in Monday’s House journal, the House Ethics Committee spent months investigating the complaint against Rep. DaRon McGee, the No. 2 Democrat in the chamber, and ultimately found it credible.

Through a subpoena, the committee received a series of text messages between McGee and the employee in 2017 and 2018 and determined several of McGee’s messages were “flirtatious in nature” and “gave the appearance of (McGee) attempting to establish an amorous relationship with the Employee,” which would be against House policy.

The committee also found the attempts were not welcomed by the employee and that McGee later took action that resulted in the employee leaving their job. It is not clear whether the employee was fired or quit.

The committee ultimately found McGee’s actions “unbecoming of a representative” and unanimously recommended a number of punishments, including a formal rebuke by his colleagues, loss of committee assignments and a requirement that he cover the $7,408.05 cost of the investigation into his actions.

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McGee never submitted a response to the recommended sanctions, instead offering two letters of resignation saying he had taken a new job requiring him to return to his district “full-time.”

The first letter said he would resign effective Thursday. The second said he would resign immediately.

The committee’s work prompted statements from leaders of both parties Tuesday morning condemning McGee and applauding the committee.

House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, said the report “is an indictment that Rep. McGee’s behavior, in the course of his duties as a State Representative, has substantially broken the trust placed in him and constitutes abuse of his position.”

“I stand by the committee’s work and their report outlining the indefensible behavior of Rep. McGee,” he added.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, for her part, said McGee engaged in “behavior that cannot be tolerated from an elected official” and “should no longer hold public office.”

She added, “The House Ethics Committee is to be commended for its fair, thorough and bipartisan investigation. By holding our colleagues accountable for their actions, we can begin to change the culture of an institution where behavior such as this has been tolerated for far too long.”

The ethics committee’s report comes a few weeks after the panel released a report scolding Rep. Rocky Miller, R-Lake Ozark, for creating a false rumor that a House staffer was having an affair with another representative.

An outside counsel found the rumor's effect wasn't damaging enough to qualify as sexual harassment under the law, though they said it may have violated House rules.

At the committee’s request, Miller attended sexual harassment training and wrote a letter apologizing to the staffer. He was not subject to any additional sanctions.

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