Homeland insecurity

Brian J. Doyle, 55, was arrested in his home in Silver Springs, Md., while he was online with what he believed was a 14-year-old girl. Doyle, a deputy press secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, was charged with using a computer to seduce a child. There’s a twist in the whole plot though: The “girl” he was having these conversations with was really an undercover police officer. Now you may be wondering how Doyle was caught so easily. He gave the “girl” his name, where he worked and his office and government-issued cell phone numbers. I could be wrong but this just seems almost too stupid to be true. It takes someone with a severe lack of intelligence to hand out that sort of information.

Doyle also sent this “girl” pornographic movie clips and non-sexual photographs of himself, one of which appears to be taken inside DHS headquarters. If I had first heard this story from an outside source I would have been skeptical that a government official could be such a moron. Doyle, however, was arrested while he was online in his home chatting with this “girl.”

DHS has been criticized recently for its lack of security to its facility, with some stating that there were several instances where intruders had slipped by the guards there. Doyle himself gave a very nice speech on the measures that were being taken to ensure that the DHS headquarters was secure. Secure from whom? While I realize that the drug/bomb sniffing dogs and anthrax countermeasures are in place, apparently there is no pedophile alert siren. As a criminal justice major, I can honestly not figure out how this man got into the position that he did, and it doesn’t say much for our government when they will stop one person from working in HS because of a bad credit report but will let through child molesters. People in Doyle’s position go through extreme background checks, psychological tests and polygraphs, so either he’s a very convincing liar or this is a new hobby for him.

Apparently this undercover officer was very convincing as well, considering that she spoke to Doyle on the phone stating that she had a new Web cam and wanted to “try it out.” Now I may not look my age, but I certainly couldn’t pull off the voice of a 14-year-old girl on the phone. So Doyle is not only a moron but also in need of a Miracle Ear. The question now is, what will his punishment be? I would venture a guess that he will be fired and as for criminal action he will probably get a year in jail, if that, and walk away unscathed. This will of course come after he claims some injustice like entrapment, that someone set him up or mental anguish over the loss of his dog, cat, parrot, etc.

As we saw with the recent Cynthia McKinney saga, it is not likely that Doyle will step up to the plate and confess all of his sins. As of right now Doyle has been placed on “non-pay” status with the DHS, so he still has a job, but will the government do the right thing and fire him like any other employer would? We’ll simply have to wait and watch the drama unfold, but for all of you Homeland Security majors out there, there will probably be an opening soon so get your resumes ready.