(03-13) 10:41 PST Salt Lake City (AP) -- Utah's House majority leader has resigned, two days after his confession about sitting nude in a hot tub with a teenage girl 25 years ago stunned the conservative state.
Republican Rep. Kevin Garn said Saturday that stepping down is in the best interests of his family, his colleagues and the people of Utah.
In an e-mail message to House Speaker David Clark, Garn apologized for becoming a distraction.
The 55-year-old Garn acknowledged the indiscretion late Thursday immediately after the Legislature adjourned for the session.
He says he paid the woman, Cheryl Maher, $150,000 to keep quiet about the episode when he unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2002.
Maher was 15 and a legal minor when the hot tub incident occurred. The 40-year-old says it was necessary for Garn to resign.
