MIAMI (AP) – The deputy press secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was arrested Tuesday for using the Internet to seduce what he thought was a teenage girl, authorities said.

Brian J. Doyle, 55, of Silver Spring, Md., was arrested on charges of use of a computer to seduce a child and transmission of harmful material to a minor. The charges were issued out of Polk County, Fla.

Doyle had a sexually explicit conversation with what he believed was a 14-year-old girl whose profile he saw on the Internet on March 14, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

The girl was an undercover Polk County Sheriff’s Computer Crimes detective, the sheriff’s office said.

Doyle sent the girl pornographic movie clips and had sexually explicit conversations via the Internet, the statement said.

During other online conversations, Doyle revealed his name, that he worked for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and offered his office and government issued cell phone numbers, the sheriff’s office said.

Doyle also sent photos of himself to the girl, but authorities said they were not sexually explicit. On several occasions, Doyle instructed her to perform a sexual act while thinking of him and described explicit activities he wanted to have with her, investigators said.

Doyle was expected to be placed on administrative leave this morning.

Homeland Security press secretary Russ Knocke in Washington said he could not comment on the details of the investigation. “We take these allegations very seriously, and we will cooperate fully with the ongoing investigation,” Knocke said.

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