FUKUI, Japan (Kyodo) -- Tatsuji Sugimoto, the governor of Fukui Prefecture in central Japan, said Tuesday he will resign over sexually harassing messages sent to multiple staff.

Speaking a month after a sexual harassment complaint by one of his staff came to light, Sugimoto told a press conference that he feels an "extremely heavy responsibility" for his actions, saying they have "severely undermined public trust." He did not reveal the content of the messages.

Sugimoto, a 63-year-old former internal affairs ministry bureaucrat, had earlier acknowledged that he sent text messages to the employee. But he had refrained from clarifying whether he viewed it as a case of sexual harassment, citing the fact that an investigation was under way.

But he said at Tuesday's press conference that he had "come to conclude that I sent sexually harassing messages" to staff, including the person who reported it to an outside consultation center in April.

A special investigation led by an independent lawyer conducted a survey asking about 6,000 staff members if they had been targeted by the governor for sexual harassment. The results of the survey, which ended earlier this month, are scheduled to be made public next year.

Sugimoto was first elected Fukui governor in 2019 and has been serving his second term.

With the prefectural assembly convening for a new session, "I want to put an end to the confusion (I caused) and set the stage for a fresh start," Sugimoto said.