WASHINTON, DC  --  A U.S. Senate aide was arrested Friday for trying to persuade a minor under 18 years of age to engage in sexual activity after allegedly arranging a lunchtime sexual encounter with a teenage boy.

James McHaney, 28, was arrested by FBI agents after he arranged the afternoon liaison via a "cooperating witness" working with investigators, The Smoking Gun reports.

According to the felony complaint and an accompanying statement of facts filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., the witness and McHaney were conversing online Friday afternoon when the witness asked whether McHaney was interested in engaging in anal sex with a 13-year-old boy.

"I'll be there," McHaney allegedly replied. He later asked for a photo of the child with whom he and the CW would have sex and whether the boy had "any pubes." When told no, McHaney allegedly replied, "That's hot."

McHaney was arrested in the lobby of an unnamed "predetermined location," where he had arranged to meet the witness.

McHaney has been fired from his position as the D.C. scheduler for . "Late Friday afternoon the FBI informed our office that a Senate employee was arrested. The employee was immediately fired. Our office has and will continue to fully cooperate with the ongoing federal criminal investigation. Senator Cantwell has zero tolerance for crimes against children," Cantwell's chief of staff, Michael Meehan, said in a statement Monday night.

Last update: 12-05-2007 12:26