(AP) — A central Missouri sheriff facing charges that include harassment and stalking will appear in court in two weeks.

Osage County Sheriff Michael Dixon is scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 17. The Supreme Court has named St. Louis County Circuit Judge Richard C. Bresnahan as a special judge in the case.

Dixon has called the charges “baseless” and said he plans to challenge them in a statement released through his attorney.

The sexual misconduct and assault charges involve allegations that Dixon inappropriately placed a flashlight between a woman’s legs. The stalking and harassment charges accused Dixon of making “numerous and repeated comments of a suggestive or sexual nature” about the woman.

Osage County is rural and east of Jefferson City.