A former U.S. Attorney has been sanctioned for sexually harassing an intern at his Youngstown office.

According to Court News Ohio, former U.S. Attorney Mark Bennett received a two-year fully stayed suspension from the Ohio Supreme Court for sexually harassing a female intern back in 2017. The court voted 4-2 in favor of this suspension.

The suspension was stayed with conditions that Bennett receive mental health counseling and not commit and further professional misconduct. 

Justices Patrick Fischer, Patrick DeWine, Michael P. Donnelly and Melody Stewart joined this opinion. In a separate opinion, Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy stated that she would impose a one-year restriction with six months stayed on conditions similar to those from the majority opinion.

The suspension is a result of an incident in 2017 when a 24-year-old law student and intern at Bennett's Youngstown office was sexually harassed by Bennett.

The intern told investigators and Bennett had asked her for inappropriate pictures, as well as offered to buy her clothing from Victoria's Secret, and even touched her breasts at one point.

The intern also said that Bennett sent her inappropriate messages over text and various social media apps before she blocked him as a contact. 

A complaint filed with the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct reveals that two years after her internship, Bennett had reached out again sending her inappropriate messages.

These messages include questions about her sex life, as well as a message that read "can't wait to have it" referring to her buttocks. 

RELATED COVERAGE: