An unsealed grand jury indictment accuses a Republican state senator of extorting sex from a page in the Rhode Island Senate page program.
The indictment was unsealed Monday as Senate Minority Whip Nicholas Kettle was arraigned on two counts of extortion in Providence Superior Court. Kettle pleaded not guilty.
Kettle, of Coventry, was indicted last week. State police separately charged him with video voyeurism for allegedly sending pictures of his ex-girlfriend's "private parts."
The indictment says Kettle coerced a male page into sex on two occasions in 2011.
Democratic Senate President Dominick Ruggerio says he is horrified and disgusted. He says if Kettle won't resign, he will pursue Kettle's expulsion. He says he has asked legal counsel to review the page program, and says his thoughts are with the victims.
