The Homeland Late Night Stalker

Courtesy of Bob Elsdale

 

What is wrong with these people?

The White House had better wake up and start doing background checks that go beyond whether a high ranking Government official has paid a parking ticket, and move into the 'burning the midnight oil' check.

Well now I 've got that off my chest, I can safely say it's practically impossible to do. Ahem:

Brian J. Doyle, DOB 4/7/50, the Deputy Press Secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Public Affairs in Washington, D.C., was arrested this evening at his residence in Silver Springs, Maryland, on 23 Polk County charges related to the use of a computer to seduce a child and transmitting harmful materials to a minor. Doyle's arrest is the result of a joint investigation by the Polk County Sheriff s Office, working with Florida’s 10th Judicial Circuit State Attorney Jerry Hill s office, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Inspector General s Office.

On March 12, 2006, Doyle contacted a 14-year-old girl whose profile was posted on the Internet, and initiated a sexually explicit conversation with her. The girl was actually an undercover Polk County Sheriff s Computer Crimes detective. Doyle knew that the girl was 14 years old, and he told her who he was and that he worked for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. During future online chats, Doyle gave the undercover detective posing as a 14-year-old girl his office phone number and his government-issued cell phone number, so that they could have telephone conversations, in addition to their online chatting. Doyle used the Internet to send hard-core pornographic movie clips to the girl and used the AOL Instant Messenger chat service to have explicit sexual conversations with her. The investigation revealed that the phone numbers given to the detective were in fact Doyle s, and that the AOL account used was registered to Doyle. Doyle also sent photos of himself to the detective, which were not sexually explicit but did serve to further positively identify him. [Read the whole thing]

The Week Magazine Blogger Of The Year (I love saying that) Ed Morrissey:

In this case, Doyle's extracurricular activities escaped everyone's attention, including (one supposes) the FBI and its pre-hire background check. It still reflects badly on the White House and the DHS, which is why political appointees such as Doyle are supposed to get a thorough vetting not just for security risks but also for the potential to embarrass the administration they serve. In the future, the Bush team had better learn to vet their candidates a little more thoroughly. Voters may not remember who Jack Abramoff is come November, but they will certainly remember who hired the Dirty Old Man of the DHS.

Well that ought do do the image of the Homeland Security the world of good, the Deputy Press Secretary being charged with child porn.

As a mother, i would like to do a little more than simply throw the book at this pervert, whilst James Joyner is still pontificating:

I am curious, though, about one aspect of the story. Doyle is charged with “7 counts Use of a Computer to Seduce a Child, and 16 counts of Transmission of Harmful Material to a Minor.” It seems rather clear to me that he is innocent of those charges. He certainly intended to do those things and had one hell of a mens rea. But there was in fact no child being seduced nor a minor to whom materials were transmitted but rather a sheriff’s deputy whom, unless Polk County has some unusual hiring practices, has reached the age of majority. Does that matter?

UPDATE: It seems that this has triggered a congressional inquiry into hiring practices and security clearance policies at the DHS.

Comments

[Darrell]

Update. Brian Doyle was NOT a political appointee. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/nominations/index.html
His name is no where to be found on the official list.

"Doyle was hired by the federal government, at the Transportation Security Administration, in 2002, officials said. He previously worked, for 26 years, as a reporter at Time magazine in Washington":(MSNBC) http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12165485/ That Time job would have disqualified him if I were doing the vetting... By the way, Mr. Doyle is a registered Democrat. Just saying... for all those pointing at Bush laughing.

[Darrell]

Hindsight does make all of us prescient!

No background check can ever expose someone's future crimes. All the blame/all the shame fully rests on the shoulders of Brian Doyle--where it belongs!

Investigate, for sure. Make sure everything was done by-the-book. But let's reserve judgement until some problem is unearthed...Except you Lefties---go right ahead and blame Bush before, during, and after...You know, SOP.

[Reneybeany]

I've read several blogs today that criticize the Dept. of Homeland Security for not having done a a more thorough background check on Brian Doyle. Don't quite understand what better background check people think is possible in this type of situation. How much more penetrating should law enforcement have been? Should law enforcement now be expected to confiscate nominees' hard-drives and do a full-blown intrusive search of homes? As our culture devolves into a greater deviency, sexual behaviors of this sort are going to become more frequent.

[The Heretik]

All quite sad. I wonder what Bernie Kerik is doing today.

[David]

Well, Joyner is right in his interpretation of the words used, but so? As other commenters have already pointed out, a citation of the charges doesn't necessarily indicate the contents of the law cited.

Regardless, this guy doesn't need the book thrown at him. He needs an introduction to Dr. (VERY HOT) Tarr and Mr. Fether, shortly before being planted under the corderstone of a high rise... the perv.

JMHO, of course...

[liquid]

You know, this sickness to prey on little children is not excluded to any "type" of background or educated man/woman. It's a true sickness and like so many sick actions, they start as thoughts in one's head and develop into physical cravings. Stories like this one make us ask "How can one monitor one's "personal life" in such high positions that we hold high standards in a land with laws of civil rights?" (makes me think of how many issues like this one that the ACLU has helped paved roads for) You know, when so many threw a fit about the wire tappings done by the govt, I remember thinking then, "If you are not doing something you are ashamed of or illegal, then why worry?" I think the more we get at the base of national security, and in using the patriot act, we might find more and more 'like Doyle' which are hiding a darker vile side and perhaps living dual lives. I know it's creepy to have found him, a man in his position, but in the long run I think 'his case' as an example, will work towards good in the future by showing an example to others that no one in high places will be exempt to scrutiny or investigation.

My hat is off to those that help support groups and agencies that are fighting to stop these sick things from taking place in our society via internet and in real time because the acts and motives to prey on our children is also the act to prey on our future. In America, our children should have a devoted force that is out to protect what we hold most precious!

[Deva]

To catch these computer child predators decoys are used all the time. Check out the website pervertedjustice.com and see what volunteer citizens are doing to combat this vile menace.

[MarcH]

1. Re: Joyner's question, if the names of the violations with which Doyle was actually charged were "Use of a Computer to Seduce a Child, and Transmission of Harmful Material to a Minor", then I would expect that the statutory language of the violations includes Attempt.

2. The various internet solicitation and porn crimes are (obviously) committed behind closed doors. Unfortunately, even extensive background checks, including interviews of associates, might not detect such behavior. The most (outwardly) respectable members of society have been caught committing these types of crimes.

3. It’s ironic that ICE, one of the investigative agencies of DHS, is a big player in child exploitation and cyber-porn investigations (http://www.ice.gov/graphics/predator/index.htm).