Democratic candidate for governor Paul Davis launched his first TV ad of the campaign on Wednesday, and then promptly pulled it off the air after the Kansas Republican Party said an actor in the commercial had previously been charged with sex offenses.

“His first ad strikes a confident tone, setting the record straight on his bipartisan credentials and clear record of commonsense, moderate leadership during his 12 years in the legislature,” the Davis campaign said of the ad in a press release around 11:30 a.m.

But shortly afterward, people who clicked on the hyperlink to view the ad on Davis’ campaign website got a message saying it was a “private video.” And moments after that, the message was changed to say the video had been removed.

At first, campaign spokesman Chris Pumpelly told the Journal-World in an email that was the result of “technical issues” that would be fixed “momentarily.” But by mid-afternoon, the page had been deleted entirely from the campaign website.

Around that time, the Kansas Republican Party issued a news release with the headline, “Sexual deviant plays prominent role in new Paul Davis television ad.”

The release said an actor who appeared in the ad had been arrested in 2007 for soliciting sodomy in a city park in Topeka and that years earlier he had been banned from the Boy Scouts of America when officials there learned he had been suspended from a high school teaching position for allegedly making sexual advances toward a male foreign exchange student.

The GOP press release also provided links to documents, including a series of “confidential” correspondence from 1989 between the Jayhawk Area Council of the Boy Scouts and Seaman High School concerning the teacher.

Although nothing from the high school confirms the allegations of sexual impropriety, a “confidential record sheet” from the Boy Scouts indicates he was being denied registration because he had been “suspended from teaching after allegations of sexual advances to male student.”

“The use of an actor with this sort of background raises serious questions about Paul Davis’ judgment and what kind of people he would surround himself with if elected,” Clay Barker, executive director of the Kansas Republican Party, said in the news release.

According to documents circulated by the state GOP, the person charged with solicitation entered a diversion agreement and paid a $150 fee. Correspondence from Seaman High School in 1989 indicated that school officials would not comment on his employment status other than to say he was on medical leave and that his contract would not be renewed.

Later, the Davis issued a statement saying his campaign had pulled the ad off the air.

“We produced a series of ads,” the campaign said. “Today, it was brought to our attention that a participant in one of those ads has serious issues in his background. Upon hearing of these issues, the ad, which ran for a few hours, was pulled down immediately. I want to apologize to Kansans for this mistake.”