After news of Kentucky Speaker of the House Jeff Hoover secretly settling charges of sexual misconduct broke Wednesday, he resigned from his post Sunday, expressing regret over the “mistakes” he made.

Announcing his decision to step down from his role as the speaker of the house, Hoover stated during a press conference Sunday he would remain a state representative.

"I did make mistakes, in that I engaged in inappropriate text messages,” the Kentucky law maker said, CNN reported. “I engaged in banter that was consensual, yet make no mistake, it was wrong on my part to do that. And for that I am truly sorry."

According to Votes Smart, Hoover was born on Jan. 18, 1960, in Albany, Kentucky. He attended Cumberland School of Law in 1987 and completed his bachelor’s degree from Centre College of Kentucky in 1982. Hoover served on the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Public Advocacy and Task Force on Merit System, before becoming a minority floor leader, Commonwealth of Kentucky House of Representatives in 2001 and later, the speaker of the house in 2017.

Hoover is married to Karyn Hoover, with whom he has three children – Blair Hoover, Ryan Hoover and Evan Hoover.

The news that Hoover hid the settlement of a sexual harassment claim by a female legislative staff was first reported by local newspaper The Courier-Journal. The outlet obtained a copy of lewd text messages dated back to March 2016, in which the former speaker engaged in sexual banter with the harassed, occasionally asking her to send photos.

Initially, the woman did not report her boss’ advances because she was allegedly given the impression by one of her peers in the workplace she needed to go along with Hoover’s less-than-professional demands if she wanted to have a smooth career. The accuser, however, reevaluated her actions afterwards and decided the sexual harassment needed to stop.

A day prior to Jeff’s resignation, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin called for "the immediate resignation of every individual who has settled a sexual harassment case, who is party to trying to hide this type of behavior."

"They know who they are, some have been named," Bevin said during a press conference Saturday. "I would simply say this: For the sake of themselves, for the sake of their families and for the sake of Kentucky, they should resign. Period. The people of Kentucky deserve better than the type of shenanigans that have gone on for far too long in this town."

After Bevin’s staunch comment, Jeff issued the following statement: "I am disappointed that our Governor in his press conference Saturday afternoon would call not only for my resignation but the resignation of other individuals who have no involvement in this matter," he said. "The governor has yet to ask our side of the story. He and I have not spoken since the story broke, and I did not receive a courtesy call from him before his grandstanding today. Instead, he has accepted as fact only, one side of the story.

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