gsgutz
04-05-2006, 12:07 PM
MIAMI - A leading spokesman for the Homeland Security Department was put on unpaid leave Wednesday after being charged with preying on a child through online sexual conversations with an undercover detective who was posing as a 14-year-old girl.
Homeland Security officials said Brian J. Doyle, the fourth-ranking spokesman at the department, was put on “non-pay status” following the charges late Tuesday. Doyle, 55, was expected to appear in court Wednesday afternoon in suburban Maryland, where he lives.
“The department is cooperating fully with the ongoing investigation into the allegations against Brian Doyle,” said Homeland Security press secretary Russ Knocke. “We take these allegations very seriously.”
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Knocke said Doyle’s security clearance, employee badge and facility access permissions have been suspended. The department’s inspector general also is investigating the charges, which accused Doyle of revealing his name and his employer and offering the numbers of his Homeland Security-issued office and cell phones during online conversations.
Doyle joined the federal government as a civil service employee shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, working at the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Security Administration. He joined the Homeland Security’s press operation last summer.
A former colleague said Doyle is divorced.
The charges, by the Polk County, Fla., Sheriff’s Department, accuse Doyle of finding the teenager’s profile online and allege that he began having sexually explicit conversations with her on the Internet on March 14.
Allegedly sent pornography
Authorities said he sent her pornographic movie clips, as well as non-sexual photos of himself, officials said. One of the photos, released by the sheriff’s office, shows Doyle in what appears to be DHS headquarters. He is wearing a Homeland Security pin on his lapel and a lanyard that says “TSA.”
On several occasions, Doyle instructed her to perform a sexual act while thinking of him and described explicit activities he wanted to have with her, investigators said.
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.”
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.
© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Homeland Security officials said Brian J. Doyle, the fourth-ranking spokesman at the department, was put on “non-pay status” following the charges late Tuesday. Doyle, 55, was expected to appear in court Wednesday afternoon in suburban Maryland, where he lives.
“The department is cooperating fully with the ongoing investigation into the allegations against Brian Doyle,” said Homeland Security press secretary Russ Knocke. “We take these allegations very seriously.”
Story continues below ↓ (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12165485/#storyContinued) advertisement ad_dap(250,300,'&PG=NBCMSN&AP=1089');
Knocke said Doyle’s security clearance, employee badge and facility access permissions have been suspended. The department’s inspector general also is investigating the charges, which accused Doyle of revealing his name and his employer and offering the numbers of his Homeland Security-issued office and cell phones during online conversations.
Doyle joined the federal government as a civil service employee shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, working at the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Security Administration. He joined the Homeland Security’s press operation last summer.
A former colleague said Doyle is divorced.
The charges, by the Polk County, Fla., Sheriff’s Department, accuse Doyle of finding the teenager’s profile online and allege that he began having sexually explicit conversations with her on the Internet on March 14.
Allegedly sent pornography
Authorities said he sent her pornographic movie clips, as well as non-sexual photos of himself, officials said. One of the photos, released by the sheriff’s office, shows Doyle in what appears to be DHS headquarters. He is wearing a Homeland Security pin on his lapel and a lanyard that says “TSA.”
On several occasions, Doyle instructed her to perform a sexual act while thinking of him and described explicit activities he wanted to have with her, investigators said.
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.”
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.
© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.