Updated at 8:45 p.m.
The leader of the state House of Representatives is calling on a Middle Tennessee lawmaker to step down amid allegations that he made sexual advances toward three teenage girls while working as a basketball coach thirty years ago.
House Speaker Beth Harwell says state Rep. David Byrd, R-Waynesboro, should resign even though the alleged misconduct came long before he was elected.
Byrd represents Hardin, Lewis, Wayne and a portion of Lawrence counties. He’s a retired principal, teacher and coach, leading the Wayne County High School girls’ basketball team to the state championship.
But three women who played for him tell WSMV that Byrd engaged in sexual misconduct in the 1980s. Two of them say Byrd touched them on their breasts and below the waist, while the third says he suggested sexual contact while on a team trip.
One of those accusers secretly recorded him during a telephone confrontation. On tape, Byrd acknowledges wrongdoing and apologizes — though he never quite says what for.
Byrd would not comment to WSMV about the allegations, nor would he discuss them when approached by Nashville Public Radio.
But if he does step down, he’d be the third state lawmaker to resign or be removed from office over sexual misconduct allegations since 2016.
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