St. Paul, MN – A candidate for St. Paul City Council was arrested on Monday after a naked picture of his estranged wife was posted to his campaign’s website.

Police arrested 38-year-old David Martinez on July 16 on suspicion of non-consensual dissemination of private sexual images, a violation of Minnesota’s “revenge porn” law, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

The topless image of Martinez’s estranged wife was posted on Saturday, the day after she filed for a restraining order against her husband, and could be considered a possible felony or a gross misdemeanor, according to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press.

Martinez, who is a candidate in a special election for the Ward 4 council seat to be held on Aug. 14, denied allegations that he posted the picture and said his campaign website had been hacked.

The Twin Cities Pioneer Press reported that the candidate’s arrest was the culmination of several weeks of bizarre incidents.

On July 13, his estranged wife, Meredith Martinez, was granted a restraining order against her husband, according to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press.

She claimed Martinez attacked her during a disagreement in the laundry room of their home on July 4.

“He then put both of his hands around my neck and pushed me backwards into a shelving unit with his hands still gripped around my neck,” Meredith Martinez wrote in her request for the restraining order.

She said her husband threw her out of their house, and she had to call police to get the children out so they could go someplace else for the night, the Twin Cities Pioneer Press reported.

Martinez was arrested on July 5 after he was accused of shouting expletives at two librarians at the St. Paul Public Library. He was banned from the library for a month, the Twin Cities Pioneer Press reported.

The very next day he was banned for a year from Target Field in Minneapolis after he had a physical altercation with security professionals at the stadium.

He brought home several canisters of mace and a pellet gun on July 11, and told his wife that people were threatening him.

Martinez was arrested for the “revenge porn” incident on Monday morning as he made his way into work as a project consultant at the Department of Commerce, where he and his wife both worked on the same floor, KARE reported.

A spokesman for the Department of Commerce told KARE that Martinez was no longer employed by their agency as of Monday morning, but refused to reveal the reason behind the termination.

Department of Commerce Spokesman Ross Corson said Martinez was a temporary, unclassified employee whose appointment could be cancelled at any time.

On Tuesday, his opponents and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter called for Martinez to drop out of the race, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

Martinez denied responsibility for the naked picture and said he had no plans to withdraw from the race to fill the former seat of Russ Stark, who resigned to take a position working for the mayor, the Twin Cities Pioneer Press reported.

“My attorney has advised me not to say anything further,” Martinez wrote on his website, according to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press.

“I wanted you to hear this from me. A few weeks ago, my wife said to me, ‘I am going to jeopardize/compromise your chances of winning the Ward 4 City Council seat!’ Well, good job honey. Love you too!” Martinez wrote.

KARE reported that Martinez had already missed the deadline to drop out of the race and be removed from the ballot, and pointed out that the ballots for the August election had already been printed.

The University of St. Thomas had scheduled a candidates’ forum for Wednesday evening, co-sponsored by the Macalester-Groveland Community Council, the Twin Cities Pioneer Press reported.

However, the event was cancelled in the wake of the news about Martinez’s arrest.

No charges had been pressed against Martinez before he was released from jail on Wednesday morning.

The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office issued a statement that said they couldn’t discuss the active case, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

“We are working with law enforcement on this case and have requested additional investigation to inform our charging decision,” County Attorney Spokesman Dennis Gerhardstein said.

Meredith Martinez has filed for divorce, KARE reported.