State Sen. Michael Maroney, R-Marshall, is shown in his mugshot taken by Glen Dale police after he was arrested Aug. 28 and charged with soliciting prostitution.

MOUNDSVILLE – State Sen. Michael Maroney waived his right to a pre-trial hearing Wednesday morning on misdemeanor charges of soliciting prostitution in Glen Dale and will now stand trial in the case.

Maroney, a first-term Republican legislator from Glen Dale, asked his attorney to file a waiver to appear during the 9:30 a.m. hearing before Marshall County Magistrate Tom Wood, who will preside over the Dec. 13 magisterial trial.

Maroney, 51, was arrested Aug. 28 and charged with conspiracy, house of ill fame/assignation and prostitution after Glen Dale police said he was involved in a sexual relationship with an alleged prostitute between mid-May and mid-June. Police arrested the woman, Cortnie Ann Clark of Glen Dale, on June 14 and charged her with operating a house of ill fame/assignation and prostitution. They seized her phone and found 4,000 text messages from various phone numbers allegedly soliciting sex, including Maroney’s, according to court documents.

Seven other men have been charged. Four of them have agreed to plea deals while all charges were dismissed against another man. No one else has been charged in the past two months, and Maroney’s case is one of three that remain active.

After investigators executed a search warrant on Maroney’s vehicle and retrieved his cell phone Aug. 3, his attorney, Paul Harris, denied that the state senator had been entangled in the prostitution probe. Harris said they recorded a video interview with Clark in which she claims she never met Maroney. Text messages from Clark’s phone, however, indicate the two engaged in multiple text message conversations and made plans to meet on multiple occasions in early June, according to court documents.

Marshall County Assistant Prosecutor Joe Canestraro said during the upcoming discovery phase, investigators plan to view that video interview with Clark, which was not under oath.

“I have no explanation,” Canestraro said of the video. “It’ll be something we’re requesting as part of discovery to see the contents of it.”

He declined to say whether Clark, who faces active prostitution charges in multiple cases, is cooperating with investigators. Maroney has not spoken to investigators, said Canestraro, who also is a Democratic House of Delegates member and will not prosecute the case during trial.

Text messages indicate Maroney and Clark met on at least one occasion and possibly multiple times. However, Canestraro said proving the two engaged in sex acts is not needed for the solicitation of prostitution charge.

“To prove solicitation, you just have to prove someone solicited (sex) with the other person, not that the act occurred,” Canestraro said.

Harris declined to discuss the case Wednesday.

Investigators still have not been able to retrieve messages from Maroney’s cell phone. Glen Dale police Chief Edward Vogler said Wednesday the cost ranged between $5,000 and $6,000 to perform a forensic analysis, making it cost prohibitive to search the phone. Vogler said he thinks still investigators have enough information from Clark’s phone to move forward with the case at trial.

Maroney, who has not resigned his position as a state senator, remains free on $4,500 unsecured bond while he awaits trial.