Rhode Island State Senator Nicholas Kettle pleaded not guilty on Monday to two counts of extortion. He said nothing to reporters while exiting the courthouse.

Kettle, a Republican from Coventry, was first elected in 2010, at the age of 19. He was still a student at the time. He was released on bail Monday, facing charges that he extorted another man for sex in 2011. 

Lawyer J.A. Dixon-Acosta said the alleged extortion victim ran against Kettle as an independent four years ago.

One of the state’s top political reporters, Ian Donnis joined The Public’s Radio in 2009. Ian has reported on Rhode Island politics since 1999, arriving in the state just two weeks before the FBI...