COLUMBUS - Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, who was catapulted into office because of a Republican ethics scandal, yesterday vowed to remain in office after he admitted to having an extramarital affair with an employee.

The admission occurred just after the Democratic officeholder said he fired two top aides and accepted the forced resignation of a third in a sexual harassment scandal. The situation inevitably brought his own conduct into question.

"I have not conducted myself in a way that has been consistent with my values as a husband, a father, and my responsibilities as attorney general of Ohio," he told reporters. "In a difficult time in my marriage, I got involved in a romantic relationship with a member of my staff. That conduct was intrinsically wrong.''

Mr. Dann, at times stammering and appearing close to tears, said he will work to regain the confidence of Ohioans. Republicans, however, immediately called for his resignation, and even Gov. Ted Strickland - a close ally - expressed "extreme disappointment" and "some anger."

Mr. Dann's admission of a sexual affair with a subordinate was stunning considering the tenacity with which he made ethics a hallmark of his campaign for attorney general.

Day after day, he hammered at top Republican officeholders in 2005 and 2006 because of their association with former GOP fund-raiser Tom Noe, who was convicted of stealing millions from a rare-coin fund he managed for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.

Governor Strickland said that if he learned one of his aides was involved in a consensual relationship with a subordinate, he would put an end to it immediately.

"I think it's inappropriate for somebody who has a supervisory role to engage in that kind of relationship," he said. "My staff understands that a supervisor is not to have a relationship of that nature with someone they are responsible for supervising, because there's an uneven power relationship there. By its very nature, it's wrong."

Neither the governor, whom Mr. Dann talked to personally before making his announcement, nor the chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, Chris Redfern, would immediately come to Mr. Dann's aid and say he should not resign. Both said they want to study the results of the Attorney General's Office's internal investigation into the harassment complaints first.

The investigation examined sexual harassment complaints made by two female employees against two high-ranking Dann aides, who also were long-time friends from Youngstown and, at the time, shared a condominium with Mr. Dann. The investigation never directly asked questions about Mr. Dann's own affair because it was not the subject of the complaints.

Mr. Dann admitted his own conduct may have set a bad example for people in his office.

"He turned the attorney general's office into a raunchy frat pad, lied to the press, and lied to his own investigator," said Kevin DeWine, deputy chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. "It's simply not acceptable that everyone but Dann himself will be held accountable."

Sen. David Goodman (R., Bexley), a former assistant attorney general and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Criminal Justice, sent a letter to Mr. Dann asking him to resign. At a news conference, Mr. Goodman left the door open for lawmakers to consider impeachment proceedings should the attorney general refuse to step down.

"You also said you 'take full responsibility' for this scandal," Mr. Goodman wrote. "Three state employees have already lost their jobs. Taking full responsibility means that you must lose your job as well."

Mr. Dann, a former state senator, said he told his wife about the affair months ago. His wife did not attend the news conference.

"My conduct has caused my family and employees great hurt and embarrassment," he said. "To Alyssa and my children, to the employees of the office of attorney general, I apologize from the bottom of my heart for my human failings."

Mr. Dann fired his general services chief, Anthony Gutierrez, after the investigation found credible complaints filed against him by two female employees of the office, Cindy Stankoski and Vanessa Stout. The report concluded that Mr. Gutierrez used his friendship with the attorney general and claimed to have family connections with the Mafia in an attempt to impress women.

Mr. Dann fired another long-time pal, Communications Director Leo Jennings III, for trying to persuade another employee to lie to investigators.

Another top aide, Ed Simpson, resigned rather than be fired for failing to take swift action after learning of the two women's complaints.

Mr. Dann did not identify the employee with whom he had the affair. During his news conference, he announced that his scheduler, Jessica Utovich, voluntarily resigned Thursday. Neither she nor Mr. Dann was the subject of the complaints under investigation.

The investigation made no recommendations when it came to disciplining Mr. Dann, who based his campaign for election in 2006 on investment scandals surrounding Republicans and openly questioned at the time how officeholders like then-Gov. Bob Taft could not be aware of the actions of those working under them.

"We can't discipline him. We can't suspend him. We don't have that authority," Executive Assistant Attorney General Ben Espy said.

Mr. Dann had chosen Mr. Espy to conduct the internal investigation. During an earlier news conference to announce the results of his probe, Mr. Espy said his investigation concluded Mr. Dann "exercised poor judgment" by allowing Mr. Gutierrez to bring an allegedly intoxicated female staff member, Ms. Stankoski, to the condo the two men shared with Mr. Jennings.

"We did not assume the role of being the moral police, therefore, even though there were rumors of affairs between management and female subordinates, it was not our responsibility to investigate the accuracy of those rumors," the report said.

Attorneys Rex Elliott and Mark Collins watched Mr. Dann's televised news conference with their clients, Ms. Stankoski and Ms. Stout. The women were disappointed Mr. Dann didn't look into the camera to directly apologize to them, they said.

The attorneys said Mr. Dann cannot separate his own affair with an employee from the sexual harassment of other employees by one of his aides.

"How can you as a leader prohibit the very conduct that you're engaging in?" Mr. Elliott asked.

Governor Strickland renewed his call for a new, independent investigation. He said the independent inquiry would go further toward regaining public confidence.

If Mr. Dann should leave office, Mr. Strickland could name a temporary replacement to serve until a new attorney general is selected in the next general election of an even-numbered year, which would be Nov. 4.

Contact Jim Provance at:

jprovance@theblade.com

or 614-221-0496.

First Published May 3, 2008, 11:53 a.m.