Michael Johnsen has quit Parliament, saying he is an "imperfect human" but innocent of raping a woman at a Blue Mountains lookout in 2019.
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The Upper Hunter MP bowed to huge pressure to step down after a week of damaging allegations that he sexually assaulted a sex worker and sent her lewd messages while sitting in question time.
Mr Johnsen issued a statement on Wednesday accusing Labor of leaking his identity to the media after Trish Doyle raised the rape allegation in Parliament last week without naming him.
"A serious allegation has been made against me via the process of parliamentary privilege and the immediate leaking of my name to the media associating it with the speech, an action with clear political intent by that member of parliament and her support team to politically and personally damage me outside of the due process already underway," he wrote on his website.
"I vehemently deny this allegation, which is devastating, unfair and unfounded and has significantly impacted on my mental health and overall wellbeing.
"Given the harassment of some sections of the media, which has gone beyond that which could [be] considered professional, the only way of navigating this situation has been to withdraw from public life."
Premier Gladys Berejiklian and opposition leader Jodi McKay welcomed his resignation, which will force a by-election in Upper Hunter.
Mr Johnsen faces a police investigation over the allegation that he sexually penetrated the woman in September 2019 after the pair had agreed to meet for oral sex.
The NSW Nationals suspended his membership last week pending the outcome of the investigation.
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On Tuesday, an ABC report alleged Mr Johnsen had offered the woman $1000 to have sex with him in Parliament House, sexted her during question time and texted a video of himself masturbating in a toilet.
"I am an imperfect human and I own that," he said in his resignation letter, without responding directly to any of the new allegations.
"I will fight the [rape] allegation and expect to have my name cleared, as it just didn't happen."
He said he was resigning "with a heavy heart" and it had been a "great privilege" to serve his electorate.
"And I believe I have served it well, having bought [sic] hundreds of millions of dollars of government investment into the electorate during my tenure."
He said he had always placed the interests of his electorate first "often at great personal sacrifice such as the role of a member of parliament demands and many may not fully realise".
The ABC reported that Mr Johnsen had been sending lewd messages to the woman during debate on water restrictions during the drought and on the state's reproductive health legislation.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Mr Johnsen had emailed the office of the Speaker of the lower house, Jonathan O'Dea, on Wednesday morning to resign.
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