A snowshoe racer from India has been charged with sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl after Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand pulled strings in order to get a visa for the athlete.

Tanveer Hussain applied for a visa so he could compete in the World Snowshoe Championship in New York, but was rejected by the U.S. embassy in New Delhi. Local officials reached out to Schumer and Gillibrand to ask for help, and their offices contacted the embassy, allowing Hussain to reapply for a visa and the visa was granted.

According to Hussain’s Facebook account, he is a Kashmiri Muslim, and he likes many Islamic pages and pages supportive of the Iranian government.

Fox News reports:

“Obviously, this is a troubling matter for him — these are troubling accusations,” Brian Barrett, Hussain’s lawyer, told Fox News over the phone. “He is in good spirits and he looks forward to fighting these charges.”

Saranac Lake Police Chief Charles Potthast told Fox News that the charges, one of first-degree sexual abuse, a felony, and another of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, stem from Hussain “engaging in a passionate kiss” with a 12-year-old girl, and accusations of the athlete touching her over her clothing in an “intimate area.”

Barrett, who has entered a not guilty plea for his client, said the girl “had been following him around all week. But that’s really all I can say on that.”

Hussain was arrested Wednesday after Saranac Lake Village police received a report of the alleged incident, which was reported to have happened on Monday.

Hussain was being held Friday on a $5,000 cash bail or $10,000 bond and has a preliminary hearing at St. Armand Town Court in St. Armand, New York on Tuesday.