Married Republican apologises for sexting teenage boy
A married Republican politician has posted an apology video after reports that he sexted a teenage boy.
Mike Yenni, the President of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, is facing an FBI investigation after allegations he sexted a 17-year-old teenager
The politician, who has a daughter with his wife Michelle Swanner, has resisted calls to step down.
In a bizarre local TV ad he released this week, Yenni said he “regrets” his actions.
He said: “I’m addressing you through this commercial because I don’t want my words to be edited. I believe you deserve the truth from me directly.
“Last summer I was old enough to know better, but I guess I was still young enough to do something stupid. I chose to send improper texts to a young man.
“I won’t go into details out of respect for the rights and privacy of all parties… I made a bad decision, and I regret my actions.
“I apologise to the families involved and anyone who I embarrassed. Especially my own family and the people of Jefferson.
“Now I will work every day to prove that good people can rise from a bad decision.
“I want to reassure the citizens of Jefferson that I never abused or misused my powers as a public official. And I’m certainly not afraid of the future, because I’m smart enough to never repeat the past.”
The age of consent is 17 in the state, but it is a federal crime to transmit “any comment, request, suggestion, proposal, image, or other communication which is obscene or child pornography, knowing that the recipient of the communication is under 18 years of age, regardless of whether the maker of such communication placed the call or initiated the communication.”
