A sheriff’s deputy from Missouri was arrested at his hotel early Tuesday morning after he attempted to force a woman to have sex with him in the bathroom of a local bar, police said.

Lucian James Nevatt, 24, of Nixa, Mo., is charged with one count of sexual battery, a misdemeanor, according to a Richmond County sheriff’s jail committal.

Mr. Nevatt followed a woman into the bathroom at The Loft, 927 Broad St., and “forced himself on her" in a sexual manner, a sheriff’s report said.

The 21-year-old victim said she tried repeatedly to leave the room — stating that they couldn’t because she was married and it was illegal to have sex in a public bathroom — to which the suspect replied that it was “OK because he was a cop,” the report said.

Mr. Nevatt is a deputy with the Stone County Sheriff’s Office, according to the report.

The suspect was removed from the bar and later arrested at his room in the Marriott Hotel.