{"id":327934,"date":"2024-08-15T09:26:51","date_gmt":"2024-08-15T14:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=327934"},"modified":"2024-08-15T11:19:14","modified_gmt":"2024-08-15T16:19:14","slug":"west-virginia-state-exposed-himself-in-slots-parlor-prosecutors-claim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/west-virginia-state-exposed-himself-in-slots-parlor-prosecutors-claim\/","title":{"rendered":"West Virginia Senator Exposed Himself in Slots Parlor, Prosecutors Claim"},"content":{"rendered":"

A West Virginia Republican state senator was arrested Tuesday allegedly for pleasuring himself in a video lottery parlor, prosecutors said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\"Mike
State Sen. Mike Maroney (R), mugshot above, denies masturbating in a video lottery parlor. He has been relieved of his duties as chair of the West Virginia Senate\u2019s Health and Human Resources Committee so he can work on his \u201cpersonal issues.\u201d (Image: Glen Dale Police Department)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sen. Mike Maroney, 56, was suspended from his duties as chair of the Senate\u2019s Health and Human Resources Committee. That\u2019s after being charged with misdemeanor indecent exposure and disorderly conduct.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, he pleaded not guilty to the charges in Marshall County Magistrate Court.<\/p>\n

Caught on Camera <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Maroney was spotted on security video by two female employees of Gumby\u2019s Cigarette & Beer World in Glen Dale, near Wheeling, WV, \u201ccommitting an act of sexual gratification\u201d in the bar\u2019s slots parlor, according to prosecutors. The alleged incident occurred on August 4 at about 1 p.m. and no one else was in the room at the time.<\/p>\n

Senate President Craig Blair (R) told local Fox<\/em> and ABC<\/em> affiliate WCHS-TV<\/em> Wednesday that Maroney had been relieved of his responsibilities so he could dedicate time to his \u201cpersonal issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

The facts that have emerged are troubling, and I am disappointed,” Blair said. \u201cHowever, in this time, our primary focus is on the well-being of Senator Maroney.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Blair added that he would offer prayers for his \u201cfriend Mike\u201d and his family \u201cas he deals with these issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maroney was elected to the state Senate in 2016 and re-elected in 2020. He had just months to serve after losing his bid for a third term in the 2024 primary.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He previously raised eyebrows in 2019 when he was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of soliciting a prostitute. The charge was later dropped for lack of evidence.<\/p>\n

Gaming Champion<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The senator\u2019s longtime support of the gaming industry in West Virginia\u2019s Northern Panhandle might explain his presence at the video gambling establishment. However, his alleged behavior while there was \u201cnot up to the standard of what we expect from our elected leaders in the State Senate of West Virginia,\u201d Blair noted.<\/p>\n

\n

In 2020, Maroney opposed a legislative effort<\/a> to ban greyhound racing in the state, which is now the only state in the US that still offers live races. He described the bill as \u201cdisturbing\u201d and \u201cembarrassing,\u201d as he sought to protect the interests of the state\u2019s two northern racinos.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

He has also been a champion of sports betting. Again in 2020, he co-sponsored a bill<\/a> that would have permitted betting on political events, although the events of this week were not a political outcome even the wiliest bettor could have predicted.<\/p>\n

Maroney has been released on a $3,500 bond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A West Virginia Republican state senator was arrested Tuesday allegedly for pleasuring himself in a video lottery parlor, prosecutors said Wednesday. Sen. Mike Maroney, 56, was suspended from his duties as chair of the Senate\u2019s Health and Human Resources Committee. That\u2019s after being charged with misdemeanor indecent exposure and disorderly conduct. On Wednesday, he pleaded […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":327935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,61,84511,69293],"tags":[91943,92031,92032],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWest Virginia Senator Exposed Himself in Slots Parlor, Prosecutors Claim<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"West Virginia State Senator Mike Maroney faces indecent exposure charges after allegedly masturbating in a video lottery parlor.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/west-virginia-state-exposed-himself-in-slots-parlor-prosecutors-claim\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"West Virginia Senator Exposed Himself in Slots Parlor, Prosecutors Claim\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"West Virginia State Senator Mike Maroney faces indecent exposure charges after allegedly masturbating in a video lottery parlor.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/west-virginia-state-exposed-himself-in-slots-parlor-prosecutors-claim\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-15T14:26:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-15T16:19:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/mike.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1049\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/west-virginia-state-exposed-himself-in-slots-parlor-prosecutors-claim\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/west-virginia-state-exposed-himself-in-slots-parlor-prosecutors-claim\/\",\"name\":\"West Virginia Senator Exposed Himself in Slots Parlor, Prosecutors Claim\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/west-virginia-state-exposed-himself-in-slots-parlor-prosecutors-claim\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/west-virginia-state-exposed-himself-in-slots-parlor-prosecutors-claim\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/mike.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-15T14:26:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-15T16:19:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"West Virginia State Senator Mike Maroney faces indecent exposure charges after allegedly masturbating in a video lottery parlor.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/west-virginia-state-exposed-himself-in-slots-parlor-prosecutors-claim\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/west-virginia-state-exposed-himself-in-slots-parlor-prosecutors-claim\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/west-virginia-state-exposed-himself-in-slots-parlor-prosecutors-claim\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/mike.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/mike.jpg\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":1049,\"caption\":\"State Sen. 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He has been relieved of his duties as chair of the West Virginia Senate\u2019s Health and Human Resources Committee so he can work on his \u201cpersonal issues.\u201d (Image: Glen Dale Police Department)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/west-virginia-state-exposed-himself-in-slots-parlor-prosecutors-claim\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Crime & Scandals\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/scandals\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"West Virginia Senator Exposed Himself in Slots Parlor, Prosecutors Claim\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\",\"name\":\"Philip Conneller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Philip Conneller\"},\"description\":\"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. 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