US: The deputy press secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security was put on leave and his security clearance suspended yesterday after being arrested on charges of using the internet to try to seduce a 14-year-old girl, an official said.
Brian Doyle (55) was arrested on Tuesday night in a sex-sting operation and accused of obscenely propositioning an undercover agent he thought was a teenager.
The homeland security department is one of the federal agencies responsible for investigating child pornography and online exploitation of children, through its immigration and customs unit and the secret service. Department officials said those agencies were not involved in this case.
"The department is co-operating fully with the ongoing investigation," said department press secretary Russ Knocke, Mr Doyle's supervisor. "We take these allegations very seriously."
He said Mr Doyle had been placed on "a non-pay status and his security clearance, employee badge and facility-access permissions have been suspended".
Mr Doyle faces 23 charges in Polk County, Florida, related to use of a computer to seduce a child and transmitting harmful materials to a minor. He was being held in a Washington jail pending extradition to Florida.
Polk county sheriff Grady Judd said Mr Doyle was taken into custody at his home in Silver Spring, Maryland, while he was online with undercover detectives.
The sheriff's office said Mr Doyle gave the "girl" his office and mobile phone numbers. He also was accused of using the internet to send pornographic movie clips and having explicit sexual conversations online with the supposed girl.