NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A Nashville grand jury returned an indictment Friday against a man charged with trying to extort $10,000 from then-Sen. Paul Stanley over an affair with a legislative intern.

The indictment accuses Joel Palmer Watts of extorting Stanley, of Germantown. Stanley resigned last year after he told investigators that he had an affair with his 22-year-old intern, McKensie Morrison. He also acknowledged taking explicit photos of her in his Nashville apartment.

According to an affidavit from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Watts – who was Morrison's boyfriend – found out about her affair with the senator when he discovered a disc of explicit photos of her.

On April 8, Watts began contacting Stanley via text messages and phone calls and demanding he pay $10,000 or the photos would be sent to the media and others, the affidavit said.

Stanley contacted the TBI, which arranged for him to record a meeting with Watts where he exchanged the money for the disc, according to the affidavit. Watts was arrested then.

Morrison was never charged and told a TV station that she wasn't involved in the alleged extortion plot.

Stanley resigned in August after nearly a decade in the Legislature. When reached Friday for comment about the indictment, Stanley said he believed the grand jury came to right decision.

"It's been an unfortunate chain of events in 2009 that has led up to this," he said.

He expects that if the case goes to trial, he will be called to testify. Both he and Morrison are listed in the subpoena list for state witnesses.

The Associated Press could not immediately determine if Watts has an attorney.

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