FRANKFORT — Democrats in the Kentucky state Senate are asking former governor and current state Sen. Julian Carroll, D-Frankfort, to resign in the wake of a news story that Carroll allegedly groped and propositioned a man in 2005.

In a press release Sunday from the caucus, spokeswoman Leslie Caudill said Senate Democrats also voted to remove Carroll as Minority Whip.

“In light of recent media reports, the Senate Democratic Caucus has voted to remove Senator Carroll from his leadership position as minority whip. The Senate Democratic Caucus calls on Senator Carroll to resign his Kentucky State Senate seat, immediately,” the statement read.

In an online story that aired Saturday evening by Spectrum News/Pure Politics, Jason Geis said he was propositioned and groped by Carroll in 2005 at a time Geis sought the former governor’s help in getting into art school.

Carroll, now 86, was governor from 1974 to 1979 and was elected to the state senate in 2004, assuming office in January 2005.

He denied the accusations on camera in the Spectrum News story and did not answer calls to his cell phone by CNHI News or immediately respond to a message left on his voice mail seeking comment.

The story rocked Frankfort political circles and prompted statements of concern from both political parties.

“We are terribly concerned by the events described in the Pure Politics piece concerning Sen. Carroll,” said Brad Bowman, spokesman for the Kentucky Democratic Party. “While we acknowledge and greatly appreciate Sen. Carroll’s life-long career of public service, we cannot overlook the severity of these allegations and take them seriously.”

Republican Party of Kentucky spokesman Tres Watson called for a “full investigation” into “an extremely disturbing case” and suggested others may have assisted Carroll in keeping the story from the public.

“While it is wrong for any individual to try and coerce another person into a sexual act, regardless of gender, what is most concerning about this allegation is that one of Frankfort’s most powerful politicians appears to have used his influence to alter an investigation,” Watson said.

“Also, there is a question whether those affiliated with him may have used their influence to alter the course of the investigation,” he continued in a statement emailed to reporters. “What matters is that it is clear that the victim feels these are the facts and his allegations deserve a further examination.”

Geis says in a recorded interview with Spectrum News, that Carroll met with him about his desire to enroll in art school, claiming to know someone who could help him.

Instead, Geis alleges in the interview, Carroll groped him, asked him to masturbate him and to perform oral sex. He said he reported the incident to Kentucky State Police, but according to records obtained and cited by Spectrum News, the Lincoln County Attorney said there was insufficient evidence or proof to seek criminal charges.

Spectrum News also aired a recording of the alleged exchange between Geis and Carroll which Geis said he made secretly.

During the broadcast, anchor and managing editor Nick Storm said Spectrum News decided to air the story after Carroll was quoted in a Roll Call article last fall commenting on Jim Gray, Lexington’s openly gay mayor, and Gray’s ultimately unsuccessful race for the U.S. Senate.

“I know my Christian friends don’t approve of it,” Carroll said in the Roll Call interview about Gray. “And quite frankly, it’s not a choice I choose to make. You can choose to ask God to convert you and heal you of that choice.”

Ronnie Ellis writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. Reach him at rellis@cnhi.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnhifrankfort.