Homeland Security aide suspended after sex sting

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The deputy press secretary of the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security was put on leave and his
security clearance suspended on Wednesday 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 teen-ager.

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 cooperating fully with the ongoing
investigation,” said department press secretary Russ Knocke,
Doyle’s supervisor. “We take these allegations very seriously.”

Doyle had been placed on “a non-pay status and his security
clearance, employee badge and facility access permissions have
been suspended,” Knocke said.

He gave no personal information about Doyle, but current
and former colleagues expressed shock and surprise at his
arrest.

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 suburban
Washington jail pending extradition to Florida.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Doyle was taken into
custody at his home in Silver Spring, Maryland, while he was
online with undercover detectives.

A statement issued by the sheriff’s office said Doyle
contacted a 14-year-old girl whose profile was posted on the
Internet and initiated a sexually explicit conversation. The
“girl” was actually an undercover Polk County detective.

It said Doyle gave his office phone number and his
government-issued cell phone number. He also was accused of
using the Internet to send pornographic movie clips and having
explicit sexual conversations in online chats with the supposed
girl.