Kitsap 911 board members accepted the immediate resignation of Richard Kirton, the agency’s longtime executive director, on Tuesday after Kirton was arrested last week.

Kirton was arrested in King County as part of a sting operation in which he allegedly messaged an undercover police detective and agreed to pay a fake 16-year-old for sexual acts, KING 5 reported, citing court documents. When he arrived at a King County hotel room and messaged the detective’s profile that he was there, police arrested him at around 11 p.m., the TV station reported.

The elected officials who oversee Kitsap County’s emergency dispatch agency held a brief special meeting Tuesday afternoon that included a private executive session “to review the performance of a public employee” and then afterwards voted to unanimously accept Kirton’s resignation. They also appointed deputy director Maria Jameson-Owens to serve as the organization’s acting executive director. By the end of Tuesday afternoon, Kirton’s name and photo had been removed from the Kitsap 911 website.

King County District Court records indicate that Kirton was under investigation for communication with a minor for immoral purposes and commercial sexual abuse of a minor. King 5 reported that King County prosecutors said they expected to make a charging decision as early as Wednesday.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Kitsap 911 executive director resigns after King County arrest