Court documents released this week revealed that a Kansas state congressman responded that "God works in mysterious ways" when confronted by police in April for allegedly assaulting a teenage student when he served as a substitute teacher.

Republican Rep. Mark Samsel, 36, faces three counts of misdemeanor battery for kicking a student in the testicles during an argument in art class.

An affidavit of Samsel’s subsequent interview revealed he admitted to “demonstrating a kick” but said the student had “embellished the hell out of it” and denied actually striking the boy.

When asked why he had grabbed the student, Samsel pointed toward the ceiling. The deputy asked if God had told him to do it, and he answered, “Twice.”

“He stated he knew it was wrong and he shouldn’t do it, he stated he did not want to do it,” the affidavit said. “He stated, ‘The whole world is telling me not to do it, God said, Yes.’ Mark believes this was God’s plan.”

Samsel said he didn’t “want to do any of the things I did right there” and wondered whether he would be committed to a psychiatric hospital, saying that “it has all the appearance of a psychotic episode or manic episode.”

The student reports “his back and testicles were in pain” for about 15 minutes.

Another student, a teenaged girl, said Samsel wasn’t aggressive but did grab her by the shoulders. “Do you have mental problems?” she reportedly asked him.

“I would just say that all an affidavit is, is a very brief recitation of allegations, and that they’re all allegations at this point,” Samsel’s attorney Christopher Scott said. “He is innocent unless proven guilty.”

Samsel explained his actions in a video posted on April 30.

Samsel has been ordered by the court to undergo a mental health evaluation. His next hearing is July 12.

The House could censure or expel Samsel, but Republican leaders have said the courts “must be allowed to work.”

Samsel represents a strongly Republican district, located roughly 50 miles south of Kansas City. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2018 and reelected in 2020.