BRUSSELS (AP) — The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court will temporarily step down pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, the court announced Friday.

Karim Khan has categorically denied accusations that he tried for more than a year to coerce a female aide into a sexual relationship and groped her against her will.

Women's rights groups welcomed the move. They had called for him to step down after the allegations emerged last year, but Khan initially resisted leaving.

Last year, an Associated Press investigation found that two court employees in whom the alleged victim confided came forward with the accusation in May. That was a few weeks before Khan sought arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, his defense minister and three Hamas leaders on war crimes charges.

The court said in a statement that Khan on Friday ″communicated his decision to take leave until the end″ of an external investigation being carried by the Office of Internal Oversight Services, the U.N. internal watchdog.

While Khan is on leave, the court’s deputy prosecutors will be in charge of managing the prosecutor’s office, the statement said.

Two co-workers in whom the woman confided at the ICC’s headquarters at The Hague reported the alleged misconduct in May to the court’s independent watchdog, which says it interviewed the woman and ended its inquiry after five days when she opted against filing a formal complaint. Khan himself wasn't questioned at the time.

While the court’s watchdog could not determine wrongdoing, it nonetheless urged Khan in a memo to minimize contact with the woman to protect the rights of all involved and safeguard the court’s integrity.

Khan has been facing increasing pressure on multiple fronts. U.S. President Donald Trump filed sanctions against Khan in February in relation to his Israel warrants. The sanctions are hampering work on a broad array of investigations at the court.