US: North Dakota Mayor Tom Ross records lewd video for ’romantic partner’, mistakenly sends to city attorney; resigns

North Dakota's Minot mayor, Tom Ross, on Tuesday resigned following a probe found him guilty of mistakenly sending a lewd video to the city attorney, reported AP.

According to the report, Ross resigned on the same day when an investigative report was made public that found Ross sent a video of himself masturbating to City Attorney Stefanie Stalheim in January. The report mentioned that Ross sent the video minutes after the two had a telephone call discussing a police officer's suicide.

Adding on, Ross even asked Stalheim to delete the video, not to watch it and to keep the incident between them.

Later, while speaking to an interviewer, Ross said that he had recorded the video at home during a lunch break and meant to send it to his romantic partner, not to Stalheim. He said it was “a sexy video for his girlfriend.”

With Ross her direct supervisor and her annual review was pending at the time, Stalheim struggled with whether to make a formal report, said the report. Her complaint asked for an apology from Ross and that he consider resigning as mayor.

In the probe, the investigator found Ross's conduct “directly caused Stalheim’s inability to work in an environment free from unreasonable sexual harassment and created an offensive work environment.”

On Wednesday, Ross said that he takes full responsibility and holds Stalheim “in the utmost regard and respect.” He said he had not resigned earlier “to respect the process”, adding he plans to focus on himself, healing and moving forward with his family.

New elections in 15 days:

Meanwhile, the Minot City Council voted on Tuesday to appoint a mayor from within the council after 15 days. This is a timeframe for citizens to petition for a special election.

Earlier in 2022, Ross was elected mayor after serving two years on the city council. Minot, about 50 miles (80kilometers) south of the Canadian border, is home to more than 47,000 people.

With agency inputs.