Ex-GOP Leader Who Made Fun of Weiner Arrested for Sexting a Minor

NEETZAN ZIMMERMAN/Gawker

A former GOP leader who cracked wise about Anthony Weiner's sexting woes has found himself embroiled in a seedier version of the scandal after being arrested last Friday for allegedlysending sexually explicit material to a teenager over the Internet.

Following a joint investigation of the Los Angeles Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children unit and its Mission Divison, former Los Angeles County GOP executive director Scott Hounsell, 30, was taken into custody and booked on a charge of sending harmful matter to a child — a misdemeanor.

"During the investigation involving a 16-year-old victim, she identified the suspect Scott Hounsell as a person who engaged her with sexually explicit chats via a social media site,"Officer Bruce Borihanh told LA Weekly.

The age of consent in California is 18.

A spokesman for the LA County Republican Party said the organization had no knowledge of Hounsell's activities prior to his June 15th resignation on an unrelated matter.

"Until we were contacted by LAPD today, we had absolutely no knowledge of any information relating to this case," said Jonathan Wilcox in his statement. "We take this issue very seriously and will fully cooperate with law enforcement any way we can."

Back in May, Hounsell took to his Twitter to joke about Weiner's troubles with sexting, telling his followers, "Is it just me, or does every #Weiner headline for the NY Mayors race seem like an intentional dirty pun?"

More recently, Hounsell took a shot at San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, who is currently dealing with mounting sexual harassment charges from former employees:

[H/T: Addicting Info via Wonkette, screengrabs via Twitter]