Republicans At Their Best

Pennsylvania authorities say a Cumberland County man suggested dressing up in animal costumes during online sex chats with a 15-year-old boy. Agents found wolf- and cat-type costumes in his home.

Alan David Berlin, a 40-year-old Carlisle, Pa., resident, also proposed visiting the boy's Harrisburg home and having sex in the back yard while his parents slept, according to a news release from the Attorney General's Office.

Berlin, who used the screen name "alan_panda_bear," requested nude photos of the boy and suggested they meet in a hotel room where a third person could photograph them having sex, the release says.

The boy's parents became concerned after discovering sexually graphic messages on their son's computer and called the attorney general's child predator unit, the release says. The unit began an investigation Tuesday.

Berlin, a longtime staffer for a Republican state lawmaker, is charged with unlawful contact with a minor, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

He is also charged with criminal attempted sexual exploitation of children, criminal solicitation to commit sexual abuse of children, all second-degree felonies, and other offenses.

Berlin was arraigned and sent to Dauphin County jail in lieu of $250,000 bail. He has been suspended from work.

(see his ad here- oh shit!)