The executive director of the Coastal Florida Police Benevolent Association has been removed from office after his arrest in Flagler County following allegations he molested two young girls.

Patrick Lee McGuire, a former Flagler County commissioner, turned himself in to Flagler County Sheriff's deputies Wednesday evening, according to Debra Johnson, spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Office.

McGuire, 44, has become a familiar face in the controversy surrounding State Attorney John Tanner regarding the Flagler jail. McGuire has frequently been quoted calling for an investigation of Tanner and sought to have Tanner removed from an investigation into alleged abuse of prisoners at the jail.

He also was recently involved in union negotiations with the city of St. Augustine on behalf of police officers.

"Mr. McGuire turned himself in to the Criminal Investigation Division at Palm Coast," Johnson said. He was accompanied by St. Augustine attorney Michael Hines. McGuire was released from the Flagler County Inmate Facility after posting a $50,000 bond.

He faces two counts of lewd and lascivious battery and lewd or lascivious conduct. The charges stem from allegations from two females that McGuire had previously engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with them over a period of years, Johnson said.

One victim, who is now 16, told detectives McGuire molested her when she was between the ages of 8 and 9. The second victim, now 24, said she was 12 and 13 years of age when McGuire began touching her inappropriately, Johnson said. The incidents occurred in Palm Coast, where McGuire lives.

Johnson declined to identify the two victims. She said the Flagler Sheriff's Office became involved after the Division of Children and Families contacted them Wednesday.

On Thursday afternoon, the police union in Port Orange announced McGuire had been removed as executive director because of the nature of the charges.

"As an association that represents law enforcement officers, we feel swift action in this case is absolutely necessary. Such conduct, if true, is reprehensible and cannot be condoned," union president Vincent Champion said in a press release.

Attorney Adam Alvarez was appointed interim executive director. The Coastal Florida PBA handles bargaining negotiations for a number of law enforcement agencies, including the St. Augustine Police Department.

St. Augustine Police Chief Loran Lueders said McGuire was involved in the most recent negotiation process. "We're in the middle of a three-year contract," he said Thursday.

McGuire is a former St. Augustine policeman. City officials said he had worked for the city for several years during the 1980s.

"Then he left to become a union employee. He's been there ever since," St. Augustine City Manager Bill Harris said.

McGuire, a Republican, ran for the Flagler County Commission in 2000 and was elected. He was defeated in his re-election bid in 2004, losing to fellow Republican Jim O'Connell.

During his term, McGuire was the focus of an investigation by Tanner into a Sunshine Law violation.

In 2002 he and another commissioners were fined $500 each for violating the law because they discussed a vote on a noise ordinance after a commission meeting had adjourned, according to the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida.