PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Senate on Wednesday refused to expel a lawmaker accused of fondling an 18-year-old legislative page in a motel bed, but voted to censure him instead.

Democratic Sen. Dan Sutton had admitted sharing a bed with the page last winter but denied groping him.

The censure amounts to a public reprimand that has no effect on Sutton’s legislative powers.

The motion to expel Sutton failed 14-20, and the censure vote was 32-2. Sutton left the chamber when the debate began over his future, and he was the only senator not voting.

Sutton, 36, said afterward he believes the censure vote will end the matter. “Yes, it’s a relief,” he said.

“We believe that is the appropriate punishment,” said state Sen. Scott Heidepriem, vice chairman of the Senate’s disciplinary committee. He noted that law officers have investigated the allegations against Sutton for nearly a year but that no criminal charges have been filed.

Attorney General Larry Long said that the criminal investigation was continuing and that he could not comment further.

Austin Wiese, now 19, testified that Sutton, a longtime family friend, touched him inappropriately while the two shared a king-size bed at a motel last February. Wiese was 18 at the time.

While it is The Associated Press’ policy not to identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault, Wiese’s name was used in the public hearing, which was carried live on the Internet, and has been circulated by other media in the state.

The teen’s father, Dennis Wiese, watched the debate from a third-floor gallery overlooking the Senate floor and said he thought Sutton should have been expelled.

“I’m so proud of my son for living through a year of hell. I admire Austin for coming forward immediately and going to the attorney general,” Dennis Wiese said.

The father said Austin Wiese was at college in Virginia during the debate and did not wish to speak to reporters.

But Wiese issued a statement on his son’s behalf: “He was appreciative that the Senate looked into this, and he said it felt good to get the truth out.”