Deputy DHS Press Secretary arrested in child porn sting
Via AP:
MIAMI – A deputy press secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was charged with using a computer to seduce a child after authorities said he struck up sexual conversations with an undercover detective posing as a 14-year-old girl.
Brian J. Doyle, 55, the fourth-ranking official in the department’s public affairs office, was expected to be placed on administrative leave Wednesday.
“He said last night that he was going to waive extradition. If he does that, we may have him back by the end of the week,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Wednesday. “He could get to court today and some lawyer may say ‘no, you don’t want to do that.’ The bottom line is we don’t know when he’s coming back.”
Authorities arrested Doyle on Tuesday at his Silver Spring, Md., home as he was online with the “girl.” The undercover detective had called Doyle at work and said she got a Web camera, as he had asked her to do, and wanted to test it out, said Carrie Rodgers, Polk County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman.
“He said he would get on the computer when he got home from work so we knew he would be on,” Rodgers said. “When (police) went to his door, he was on the computer in the middle of a conversation with the girl.”
Doyle found the teenager’s profile online and began having sexually explicit conversations with her on the Internet on March 14, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
The charges:
On March 27, 2006, Tenth Judicial Circuit (FL) Judge Neil Rodenberry viewed the pornographic movies in question and found probable cause to believe the material sent over the Internet by Doyle was Harmful to Minors, as defined by Florida State Statute 847.001(6). The next day, March 28th, 23 felony charges were direct-filed by Assistant State Attorney Brad Copley and a warrant for the arrest of Brian Doyle was signed by Judge J. Dale Durrance. The charges are as follows: 7 counts Use of a Computer to Seduce a Child, and 16 counts of Transmission of Harmful Material to a Minor.
Captain Ed says this is another black mark against the DHS vetting process:
In this case, Doyle’s extracurricular activities escaped everyone’s attention, including (one supposes) the FBI and its pre-hire background check. It still reflects badly on the White House and the DHS, which is why political appointees such as Doyle are supposed to get a thorough vetting not just for security risks but also for the potential to embarrass the administration they serve. In the future, the Bush team had better learn to vet their candidates a little more thoroughly. Voters may not remember who Jack Abramoff is come November, but they will certainly remember who hired the Dirty Old Man of the DHS.
With all due respect to the Captain, I’m not so sure how the DHS would have been able to know about this unless Doyle had come right out and admitted it during the vetting process – unless he had a prior criminal history of doing such things, which DHS surely would have found doing a simple criminal background check.
Regardless, even though it’s a bad day for the Dept. of Homeland Security, it’s a good day for children because this child predator is no longer out on the streets.
Hat tip: James Joyner
(Cross-posted at Blogs For Bush)