A Columbia police officer has been fired after being caught at a motel with an underage prostitute, said the spokesperson of the Richland County department.

32-year-old Mark A. Cornish was arrested after the police received a tip that a uniformed police officer was seen entering the motel with a girl that was known to the staff as a prostitute. It was later confirmed that she was only 17 years old.

Cornish fled in his patrol car when the deputies arrived at the motel, but he was found later that day just a couple of blocks from the motel. It turns out that this wasn’t the first encounter he had with this prostitute.

Police chief Randy Scott said that he initially wanted to wait until the investigation is over to decide about his course of action, but since Cornish refused to cooperate with the investigators, he chose to fire him immediately.

“You represent an agency, the community and what’s good in society,” said Scott, stating that this kind of behavior is unacceptable for a member of the police force.

Cornish’s Facebook page suggest that not only he’s a Chaplain candidate for the U.S. Army and deeply religious, but a married man as well.