Republican state Sen. Mike Maroney of West Virginia was reportedly arrested Tuesday for disorderly conduct and indecent exposure at a gaming establishment and the incident is now under investigation.
Maroney has pleaded not guilty to these misdemeanor charges, according to the Wheeling Intelligencer. He was arraigned Tuesday and released on $3,500 bond.
Marshall County Prosecutor Joe Canestraro revealed that Chief Ed Vogler of the Glen Dale Police Department filed a complaint Tuesday regarding an alleged Aug. 4 incident at a gaming establishment, said the outlet. CBS News identified the establishment as the Glen Dale Gumby’s Cigarette and Beer World. There are several Gumby’s locations in the nearby area.
Canestraro said employees called Glen Dale police that Sunday afternoon and reported that a person was allegedly committing “an overt act of sexual gratification” in the establishment’s lottery room. While no one was in the room when the act allegedly occurred, employees said they saw it on the room’s surveillance camera.
When police arrived at the scene, they found Maroney in the lottery and eventually asked him to leave. After the complaint was filed, Maroney was arrested Tuesday evening. Citing the West Virginia Regional Jail Authority website, the Wheeling Intelligencer said Maroney was booked at the Northern Regional Jail at 6:38 p.m. Tuesday.
The Intelligencer reported that the complaint noted that the gambling room is “not a secured area” and Vogler said in the complaint it was “very evident” that Maroney was “in the act of masturbating,” based on the video footage.
West Virginia Senate President Craig Blair, also a Republican, said this week that the charges against Maroney are still under investigation, said the Intelligencer. However, Blair still moved to remove Maroney as chairman of the state Senate’s Committee on Health and Human Resources and from all other committee assignments to “give him appropriate time to dedicate to his personal issues.”
Who is Maroney?
Maroney, 56, was born in Wheeling and attended John Marshall High School, according to his government biography. He also graduated from West Virginia University with a chemistry degree and went on to Marshall University School of Medicine before becoming a radiologist. He has two children.
In 2016, Maroney was first elected to his state Senate District 2 and he was reelected in 2020. In 2019, during his first term in office, the Wheeling Intelligencer reported that Maroney had been arrested for soliciting sex from a woman. According to the West Virginia Record, the charges were later dropped and Maroney filed a civil lawsuit against the city and police officers involved.
The following year, he faced several misdemeanor charges for about 48 hours “in a little known, seldom used law cited by officials in a county in which he is not even a candidate,” the Intelligencer reported.
That law (West Virginia Code 61-10-21) established that it is “unlawful for any person to use the prefix ‘Doctor’ or ‘Dr.’ in connection with his name in any letter, business card, advertisement, sign or public display of any nature whatsoever, without affixing thereto suitable words or letters designating the degree which he holds.”
“My opponent and his people have reached an all-time low in West Virginia politics, beneath scum,” Maroney said in a text message referencing his then opponent, John Marshall High School teacher Josh Gary, per the Intelligencer. “They found a … magistrate in Pleasants County … to issue an arrest warrant for me to be arrested in front of my children on fake charges, charges that were dismissed … because they were bogus.”
Those charges were eventually dropped.
CBS News reported that Maroney has “publicly advocated against a bill pushed by the Republican caucus that would have allowed some students who don’t attend traditional public institutions or participate in group extracurriculars like sports to be exempt from vaccinations typically required for children starting day care or school.” It also said he “lost favor with some Republicans last year when he spoke against a total ban on medical interventions for transgender adolescents.”
This year, he was defeated in the primary by Monongalia County resident Chris Rose. His term ends December 31.
What happens next?
“Above all, I am deeply concerned for our friend and colleague, Senator Mike Maroney,” Blair said in a statement released Wednesday morning, per the Intelligencer. “The facts that have emerged are troubling, and I am disappointed. However, in this time, our primary focus is on the well-being of Senator Maroney. Like all citizens, Senator Maroney is entitled to full due process as this matter works its way through the legal system. We join in prayer for our friend Mike and his family as he deals with these issues.”
Maroney could face a penalty of 24 hours in jail, up to a $100 fine, or both, said CBS. For indecent exposure, he could face up to a year in jail, $500 in fines, or both. According to the Intelligencer, Maroney’s pre-trial hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18, in Marshall County Magistrate Court.