South Dakota ? A state senator accused of groping a legislative page testified Wednesday that the 18-year-old was like a relative, that he saw nothing wrong with sharing a motel bed with him and that the teenager fabricated his accusation.

The Senate has accused Sen. Dan Sutton of sexual misconduct last February with the page. Sutton was questioned Wednesday before a Senate special committee investigating the accusation.

Asked whether he thought it was appropriate to climb into bed with Austin Wiese, Sutton responded that the page “was like a nephew or a son to me and my wife. I had no concern.”

And that’s where it ended, Sutton said.

Wiese, now 19, was not present for Sutton’s testimony.

Wiese told the Senate committee Tuesday that Sutton touched his genitals on the motel bed. The alleged incident took place as Wiese was starting a stint as a page for the 2006 Legislature.

Sutton said Wiese made it up – possibly because of his father’s political ambitions or a failed business venture. Wiese’s father, Dennis Wiese, lost the Democratic nomination for governor last year.

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