ROCKVILLE, Md., April 5, 2006

Homeland Aide Faces Cyber-Sex Charges

On Unpaid Leave After Charges Of Cyber-Seducing Cop Posing As Girl

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    A high-ranking Homeland Security official was charged in a child pornography internet sting, and his arrest came while Congress is investigating online child porn. Sharyl Attkisson has more.

  • Video Homeland Security Sex Scandal

    A Homeland Security press aide is accused of trying to seduce a minor. Brian Doyle allegedly sent sexually explicit material to someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl. Susan Roberts reports.

    • U.S. Department of Homeland Security deputy press secretary Brian Doyle, in an undated photo handed out by police as they announced his arrest Tuesday in Maryland.

      U.S. Department of Homeland Security deputy press secretary Brian Doyle, in an undated photo handed out by police as they announced his arrest Tuesday in Maryland.  (CBS/AP/Polk County Sheriff)

    • Brian Doyle in his police mug shot, provided by the Montgomery County Police.

      Brian Doyle in his police mug shot, provided by the Montgomery County Police.  (CBS)

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(CBS/AP) 
On several occasions, Doyle instructed the girl to perform a sexual act while thinking of him and described explicit activities he wanted to have with her, investigators said.

Doyle appeared Wednesday afternoon at a court hearing in suburban Maryland, where he lives. No bail was set, and he only spoke to answer routine questions, such as verifying his name. He was joined at the hearing by a woman that Doyle’s attorney, Barry Hefland, identified as Doyle's life partner of 15 years.

Helfand said he hopes that at a bond review hearing, Doyle will be given bond so he can turn himself in to authorities in Florida without the need for extradition.

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."

He was booked into the Montgomery County Detention Center. Doyle also faces a charge of transmission of harmful material to a minor.

"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."

"This case is yet another illustration of how important it is for parents to supervise their children's use of Internet," says CBS News technology analyst Larry Magid, a longtime activist on behalf of safety for children online.

"It's not unusual for a person with a very respectable job to be caught up in Internet crimes against children," says Magid. "We've had cases of police officers, clergy, teachers, youth leaders, doctors — people from all walks of life — who have been arrested on similar charges. Predators don't necessarily look and act any different from the rest of us, which is why kids need to be very careful."

There was no immediate response to messages left on Doyle's government-issued cell phone and his e-mail, and he could not be reached by phone at the jail for comment.

CBSNews.com has learned that this is not the first time Doyle's alleged Internet habits got him in trouble. A source told CBSNews.com that while working in a previous position, managers discovered that Doyle had been looking at pornography on a receptionist's computer late at night. He admitted to the incident, was reprimanded, and was asked to give a formal apology to staffers, the source said.


©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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