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Former US congressman Anthony Weiner jailed for explicit messages to teenage girl

Prosecutors said Weiner sent the 15-year-old porn and got her to take her clothes off and touch herself on Skype.

Anthony Weiner, a former Democratic congressman leaves Federal Court in New York September 25, 2017 after being sentenced for 21-months for sexting with a 15-year-old girl. / AFP PHOTO / TIMOTHY A. CLARY (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images)
Image: Anthony Weiner was sentenced by a judge in Manhattan
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Former US congressman Anthony Weiner has been sentenced to 21 months' jail for sending sexually explicit messages to a 15-year-old girl.

The case rocked Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and strained Weiner's marriage with Mrs Clinton's former aide, Huma Abedin.

Assistant attorney Amanda Kramer urged the judge to give Weiner - who has a history of such behaviour - a significant prison sentence to end his "tragic cycle" of sexting.

The latest offence involved the 53-year-old having illicit contact with the teenager using Skype and Snapchat.

Prosecutors said Weiner sent the teenager porn and got her to take her clothes off and touch herself on Skype.

Weiner's lawyers had asked that he be sentenced to probation rather than prison, saying he acted out of the "depths of an uncontrolled sickness" and was now being treated.

The former Democratic congressman from New York had pleaded guilty in May to sending the obscene messages, and admitted, "I have a sickness, but I do not have an excuse."

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Anthony Weiner and his wife Huma Abedin pictured in New York in May 2016
Image: Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin in New York in May 2016

Weiner dropped his head into his hand and wept as District Judge Denise Cote handed down her sentence on Monday.

He was also fined $10,000 and must enrol in a sex-offender treatment programme.


"I am profoundly sorry," he said, reading from a page in front of him.

"The crime I committed was my rock bottom... I live a different and better life today."

In May 2011, he accidentally tweeted a photo of his genitals in boxer shorts that he apparently meant to send privately to a college student.

He resigned from Congress two weeks later as more women with lewd photos came forward.

Two years later he ran for New York mayor but further sexts and photos were published, posted under the alias "Carlos Danger".

He refused to quit the race but ended up with less than 5% of the vote.

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Image: The FBI investigated Weiner's contact with the girl

In her new memoir, What Happened, Mrs Clinton revealed that Weiner's wife "looked stricken" and burst into tears upon learning her husband had triggered then-FBI director James Comey's "October surprise".

The FBI was investigating Weiner's contact with the high school student when it came across emails on his laptop between Ms Abedin and Mrs Clinton, prompting Mr Comey to announce in October that he was reopening the investigation into Mrs Clinton's use of a private computer server.

"This man is going to be the death of me," Ms Abedin was quoted in the book as saying, and was not present in court during sentencing.

She has filed for divorce.