FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky House panel on Tuesday recommended that lawmakers move forward with a prosecutor's removal from office over allegations he promised a defendant favors in court in exchange for nude images of her.

The committee drafted and passed three articles of impeachment against Commonwealth’s Attorney Ronnie Goldy Jr., media outlets reported. Goldy is the top state prosecutor for the 21st Judicial Circuit, comprised of Bath, Menifee, Montgomery and Rowan counties.

Goldy has been embroiled in scandal since July, when The Courier Journal first reported hundreds of Facebook messages he exchanged with the defendant.

The defendant testified the Facebook messages were authentic and told a hearing officer for a bar inquiry commission that she and Goldy had sexual relations, with the prosecutor allegedly withdrawing warrants and getting her cases continued in exchange for the images, the newspaper reported.

Goldy’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the committee’s action. A letter from Goldy to the committee indicated he plans to fight his removal, stating: “I without question deny the allegations that have been made.”

If impeached by the House, the official would then be tried in the Senate, where a conviction requires the vote of at least two-thirds of the senators present.