Disgraced Democrat Anthony Weiner will spend 21 months in prison for his two-month online dalliance with a North Carolina teenager.
A federal judge in New York handed down the sentence just days after Weiner and his wife, Huma Abedin, pled for leniency, claiming that Weiner was a sex addict and that any time in jail would disrupt his “healing.” In response, prosecutors revealed that Weiner did more than just send the teenager lewd messages — he convinced her to strip naked and fondle herself over Skype while he watched.
“This is a serious crime that deserves serious punishment,” the judge said, as she handed down her decision.
Weiner will likely serve those 21 months in a minimum security facility, similar to where Martha Stewart served her sentence for insider trading, but he will serve jail time — though less than the ten years a crime like his could carry. Prosecutors recommended that Weiner be sentenced to between 21 and 27 months in prison as part of Weiner’s plea deal.
Although this is the first time the New York Democrat will serve time for his extracurricular activities, this is at least the third time Weiner has been caught sexting with a woman who isn’t his wife. He was forced to resign from Congress after he used the Twitter direct message function to send photos of his junk to women on the social network, and he abandoned his campaign for New York City mayor when a Democratic operative named Sydney Leathers revealed she’d also been sharing sexy texts with Weiner.
This latest incident is by far the worst; in February, the Daily Mail published an exclusive interview with a North Carolina teenager who claimed she’d had an online affair with Weiner when she was 15 years old, and that Weiner had sent her naked photos and requested that she send her own in return.
Federal prosecutors investigated the girl’s allegations and found that Weiner had not only shared obscene material, he’d asked the teen to “engage in sexually explicit conduct via Skype and Snapchat, where her body was on display, and where she was asked to sexually perform for him” — fully aware that the girl was underage.
Weiner tried to claim that he suffers from a “sickness,” and is not a sexual predator, but the judge didn’t buy his excuse.
Huma Abedin was not present in court while her husband was sentenced.