Anthony Weiner pleads for leniency in ‘sexting’ case

Anthony Weiner, the former US congressman and New York mayoral candidate, has asked a judge for leniency when he is sentenced later this month for "sexting" an underage girl.

Mr Weiner admitted in May to sending sexually explicit messages to the 15-year-old from North Carolina.

In asking for Mr Weiner to avoid jail – and receive probation instead – his lawyers described his behaviour as “inexcusable”, but pointed to his “remarkable progress” in the treatment for his “sickness”.

Court documents read: “A term of imprisonment would bring Anthony’s indisputably successful treatment for the sickness underlying his crime to an immediate and complete halt.”