Former US congressman Anthony Weiner sent to prison for sexting with a fifteen year old girl

No getting out of jail free for sexting compulsive former US congressman Anthony Weiner.

 

His action cost him his seat in Congress, his shot at becoming New York mayor and his marriage, and may have even denied Hillary Clinton the presidency. On Monday, it cost him his freedom – he’s been sentenced to 21 months in prison and has until 6th November to report to prison.

 

Weiner, 53, dropped his head into his hands and wept as a federal judge sentenced him to 21 months behind bars for illicit online contact with a 15-year-old girl, his tears flowing long after the gavel came down on a case he called his “rock bottom”. His misconduct included getting the North Carolina high school student to strip and touch herself on Skype and Snapchat. He must now register as a sex offender. Weiner apologised to the teen and disclosed that he has been undergoing therapy. “I stand before you because I victimised a young person who deserved better,” he said, adding, “Your Honour, I’m not asking that you trust that my recovery is real. I ask you for the opportunity to prove that it is real.”

 

In making the judgement, US District Judge Denise Cote cited a need in such a highly publicised case to “make a statement that can protect other minors“. The judge said Weiner’s habit of exchanging sexually explicit messages and pictures with young women shows a “very strong compulsion” – so strong that “despite two very public disclosures and the destruction of his career on two occasions, he continued with the activity“.

 

Weiner’s action may indirectly have cost former presidential aspirant, Hillary Clinton, the presidential election. His wife, Huma Abedin, was formerly Clinton’s closest aide. FBI agents investigating his contact with the teen came across emails on his laptop between Abedin and Clinton, a discovery which prompted then-FBI Director James Comey to announce in late October 2016 that he was reopening the probe of Clinton’s use of a private computer server.Two days before Election Day, the FBI declared there was nothing new in the emails. But in a recent interview, Clinton called Comey’s intervention “the determining factor” in her defeat.

 

 

Weiner and wife are currently undergoing a divorce but he is said to be devoted to their five-year-old son. His parents were in court.

 

A portion of this article was syndicated from News24

 

 

 

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