Disgraced former New York congressman Anthony Weiner will plead guilty to charges that he sent obscene material to a 15-year-old girl, The New York Times has reported.
Weiner, 52, will enter a guilty plea with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan on a single charge of sending explicit material to a minor. The girl alleged that he sent her nude photos, shared pornographic videos with her, discussed his “rape fantasies,” and requested that she undress and masturbate during video calls.
The crime carries a sentence of up to 10 years in jail, although it is likely that the sentence will mean Weiner becomes a registered sex offender, although a final determination is yet to be made.
Throughout his political career, Weiner, who is married to close Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin, has been embroiled in a number of sexting scandals.
The first, exposed in 2011 by the late Andrew Breitbart and dubbed ‘Weinergate,’ led to his resignation from Congress and the issuing of a public apology.
Then, in 2013, while running as a candidate for mayor of New York, more photos were published of Weiner sexting another woman under the alias ‘Carlos Danger.’ Despite the revelation, Weiner did not pull out the race and eventually finished fifth with just 4.9 percent of the vote.
Last October, Weiner checked into a sex addiction facility to overcome his urges, although he was reportedly forced to leave early having run out of money to pay for it.
Now, Huma Abedin, who last year revealed she was separating from Weiner, is reportedly “working hard” to save the couple’s marriage.
According to sources close to the New York Post, Abedin remains “in love” with Weiner, blaming the “pressures of the campaign and presidential race and him drifting off into obscurity” for his latest relapse.