Apparently the Polk County Sherriff’s office:
The deputy press secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has been arrested on sex charges stemming from a Florida-based Internet sting, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said on Tuesday.
…”[Brian Doyle] was on his computer communicating with the undercover detective who he believed to be a 14-year-old girl at the time we knocked on his door in Maryland, took him into custody and served a search warrant,” Judd said in an interview on CNN.
…”What stands out to me the most in this particular case was the fact that Brian, on his first conversation with our undercover detective, who he believed to be a 14-year-old girl, clearly identified himself as a deputy press secretary for Homeland Security,” Judd told CNN.
This story does not seem to have much in the way of political relevance other than the amazing utility of the internets as a tool for both pedophiles and the people trying to catch them. It would be more amusing if the Sherriff’s office used certain provisions of the USA PATRIOT act against the accused, but as of now I have no idea whether that is the case.
***Update***
Aravosis characteristically asks, “Do these people vet ANYBODY? ” Get real, John. People don’t put ‘pedophile’ on their resume.
However, I still cannot wrap my mind around how eager this guy was to show his credentials to a “14-year-old-girl” over the internet. When I try to tease apart the layers of pathological stupidity involved in doing something like that it just gives me a headache.
***Update 2***
Christy Hardin Smith has prosecuted a number of pedophilia cases so her post at Firedoglake should be the definitive read for now. She also believes that a background check would have turned something up, but that seems unlikely to me unless Doyle had prior convictions or underage relatives willing to spill unpleasant secrets to a stranger with a badge.
She also catches this:
Another Homeland Security official — Frank Figueroa, special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Tampa — faces trial this week on charges of exposing himself to a teenage girl last year at a mall. Figueroa, who has been suspended, pleaded not guilty.
Two anecdotes don’t make a trend, but it’s a surprising juxtaposition.