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Reuters

Former US Congressman Anthony Weiner wept on Friday as he pleaded guilty in federal court to sending sexually explicit messages to a teenage girl, ending an investigation into a “sexting” scandal that played a role in last year’s US presidential election.
Appearing before US District Judge Loretta Preska in New York, Weiner, 52, agreed not to appeal any prison sentence of 27 months or less as part of his plea deal with federal prosecutors.
Wearing a navy-coloured suit, maroon tie and his wedding band, a tearful Weiner described his conduct before Preska.
“I have a sickness, but I do not have an excuse,” Weiner said, apologising to the 15-year-old girl to whom he sent sexually explicit images and messages last year.
The former Democratic congressman saw his political career implode after a series of scandals involving his inappropriate sexual exchanges with women online. US authorities have been investigating reports that Weiner sent explicit messages last year to a teenage girl in North Carolina.

The charge of transferring obscene material to a minor carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, but Weiner is likely to get less. As part of his plea agreement, federal prosecutors said they would consider a term between 21 months and 27 months “fair and appropriate.”
US District Judge Denise Cote will determine Weiner’s punishment at his sentencing on September 8.
The probe into his exchanges with the teenage girl, however, also helped upend the final days of the 2016 US presidential campaign.
Federal agents seized Weiner’s laptop during the probe and discovered a batch of emails from his wife, Huma Abedin, a senior aide to Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for president in 2016.
As a result, James Comey, then the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced in late October that the agency was reviewing the messages to determine whether to reopen its investigation into Clinton’s handling of official correspondence.
Clinton blames FBI director for presidential election loss
Clinton has blamed her loss to Republican Donald Trump in part on Comey’s announcement, even though Comey said two days before the election in November that the review had uncovered no new evidence.
Weiner, who served parts of New York City for 12 years in the US House of Representatives, resigned in 2011 after an explicit photograph was posted on his Twitter account. He initially claimed his account had been hacked but eventually acknowledged he had sent the image as well as inappropriate messages to several women.
Two years later, he announced a run for New York City mayor but dropped out of the race when more explicit messages became public.
Abedin announced her separation from Weiner last summer after a new round of messages emerged that included an image of Weiner’s crotch as he lay in bed with their young son.
On Friday, Weiner described his repeated transgressions as compulsive behaviour and said that since last year he has been receiving “intensive” mental health treatment.
“These destructive impulses brought great devastation to family and friends, and destroyed my life’s dream of public service,” Weiner told Preska. “And yet I remained in denial, even as the world around me fell apart.”


Former US Congressman   Anthony Weiner tearfully pleads guilty in teen ‘sexting’ case

Anthony Weiner, a former U.S. congressman from New York. Photo: Reuters

FILE - In this July 24, 2013, file photo, former Democratic U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner leaves his apartment building in New York. Weiner will appear in federal court, Friday, May 19, 2017, to face criminal charges in an investigation of his online communications with a teenage girl in North Carolina. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Disgraced Weiner to run for New York City mayor

 Anthony Weiner appears with his wife Huma Abedin in a YouTube video announcing his entrance into the New York mayoral race. Photo: AFP

Silly sausage: serial sexter Anthony Weiner is dumped by Clinton aide Huma Abedin over new scandal

In this photo taken Aug. 28, 2016, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's senior aid Huma Abedin, center, departs a fundraiser at a private home in Southampton, N.Y. Abedin says she is separating from husband Anthony Weiner after another sexting revelation involving the former congressman from New York. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

(FILES) This file photo taken on May 2, 2016 shows Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin as they arrive at the Costume Institute Benefit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Huma Abedin, the wife of the former New York Representative Anthony D. Weiner, announced on August 29, 2016 that the couple were separating in the wake of a report that Mr. Weiner had been involved in another sexting scandal. / AFP PHOTO / TIMOTHY A. CLARY

Anthony Weiner and his wife Huma Abedin attend a news conference in New York in 2013. Photo: Reuters

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