TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A high-level, Topeka-based Veterans Affairs official has been fired following an investigation into inappropriate conduct regarding sexually charged communication.

Former Health Resource Center director Robert Downs received the VA's decision to terminate his employment April 12, the Topeka Capital-Journal (http://bit.ly/2pqfyC5 ) reported.

The investigation beginning in 2016 alleged Downs and a female VA employee exchanged hundreds of salacious chat messages, most made during business hours, for over two years.

"It was a pathetic action of a middle-aged man trying to redis...