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Former Tennessee Democratic state senator charged with sexual battery

In this Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012, file photo, Democratic Sen. Joe Haynes of Goodlettsville, Tenn., listens to a presentation in the Senate Finance Committee in Nashville.
In this Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012, file photo, Democratic Sen. Joe Haynes of Goodlettsville, Tenn., listens to a presentation in the Senate Finance Committee in Nashville. In this Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012, file photo, Democratic Sen. Joe Haynes of Goodlettsville, Tenn., listens to a presentation in the Senate Finance Committee in Nashville.

By Associated Press 1 min read

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A former Democratic state senator from Goodlettsville has been arrested on a felony charge of sexual battery.

The Tennessean reports that Joe Haynes, a former Senate Democratic Caucus chairman who retired from the Legislature in 2012, was booked into jail on Monday afternoon.

Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron told the paper a woman who had retained Haynes to represent her in legal matters related to her mother’s death alleges that he tried to kiss her and grabbed her buttocks.

Eighty-year-old Haynes did not immediately return a request for comment from the newspaper. Jail records did not indicate whether Haynes had an attorney.

Haynes was first elected to the Senate in 1982.