Anthony Weiner Admits To 'Sexting' 15-Year-Old Girl

NEW YORK, NY — Disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner has admitted to "sexting" a 15-year-old girl, federal prosecutors said Friday morning.

Weiner, 52, pleaded guilty to a charge of transferring obscene material to a minor as part of a plea deal, the New York Times was first to report. Federal authorities said Weiner surrendered himself to the F.B.I. on Friday morning before appearing in federal court in Manhattan.

Weiner admitted to sexting a girl he knew to be 15 between January and March of 2016. Prosecutors said the former New York City congressman used online messaging and video chat applications to send her sexually explicit images and directions to engage in sexual conduct.

In court on Friday, Weiner admitted to "compulsively" seeking attention from women.

"Beginning with my service in Congress and continuing into the first half of last year, I have compulsively sought attention from women who contact me on social media, and I engaged with many of them in both sexual and non-sexual conversation," Weiner said, according to a copy of the statement he prepared to read in court.

Weiner said on Friday that the 15-year-old first contacted him in January 2016, and that he knew at the time she was a high school student. Weiner apologized for his actions, and said he had sought treatment.

Joon Kim, the acting U.S. attorney for Manhattan, announced the guilty plea on Friday.

"Today, former Congressman Anthony Weiner admitted and pled guilty to sending sexually explicit images and directions to engage in sexual conduct to a girl he knew to be 15 years old," Kim said in a statement. "Weiner’s conduct was not only reprehensible, but a federal crime, one for which he is now convicted and will be sentenced."

Weiner has been released on bail before his sentencing, which is scheduled for September. He faces up to 10 years in prison.

Weiner has been ensnared in multiple sex scandals, both before and after he resigned from Congress. Weiner's admitted conduct with the teenager, his most recent implosion, got wrapped in the drama surrounding the 2016 presidential election because Weiner's estranged wife Huma Abedin served as a key advisor to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

Hours after Weiner entered his guilty plea on Friday, Abedin reportedly filed for divorce, according to a New York Daily News reporter.

For more New York City new, subscribe to Patch news alerts here.

This story has been updated with new information throughout.

Image credit: Joe Raedle / Staff / Getty Images News/ Getty Images