Senator on escort service list admits "sin"
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican U.S. senator whose telephone number was discovered in the phone records of a woman accused of running a Washington prostitution ring has apologized publicly for committing "serious sin" in his past.
Louisiana Sen. David Vitter acknowledged that his number appeared in the phone records of Pamela Martin and Associates, an escort service run by accused "D.C. madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey.
Palfrey faces criminal racketeering and conspiracy charges on allegations that she ran a prostitution ring servicing Washington's elite between 1993 and 2006. She denies the charges and insists her firm was a legal sex fantasy business.
"This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible. Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife," Vitter, a church lector, said in a statement issued late on Monday.
Palfrey has made her escort service's phone records available to the media and others in hopes of uncovering potential witnesses to help in her defense. The records contain numbers without names.
Vitter declined say what "sin" he had committed while an escort service client. "Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there -- with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way," he said.
