WHITEHALL, Ohio — A city councilman for a Columbus suburb was sworn in for a new term even though he had been released from jail on child sex charges just hours before.

Whitehall Ward 1 Councilman Gerald Dixon is facing two felony charges of gross sexual imposition and promoting prostitution, according to WBNS Channel 10 . Dixon was arrested Tuesday after a multiyear investigation that involved the FBI, WOSU reports .

Police accuse Dixon of abusing children since 1996. He’s accused of soliciting prostitution from a child and also of grooming at least eight victims mentally and physically for sexual exploitation, WOSU reports.

Dixon was released on his own recognizance by a Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge, the Columbus Dispatch reports . The Dispatch reports the judge deci

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