State Senate aide accused of child sex crimes

PITTSBURGH - A state legislative staffer wanted to engage in sex acts with a teenage boy while dressed in a panda costume, Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett said yesterday.

Corbett said Alan David Berlin, 40, of Carlisle, was charged Thursday with attempted sexual exploitation of children and related crimes.

A Corbett spokesman said that the boy's parents alerted authorities after finding sexually graphic messages on his computer, and that agents found wolf and cat-type costumes in Berlin's home.

Berlin worked in the Senate about a decade, including the last several years with Sen. Jane Orie (R., Allegheny). A spokesman for Orie said Berlin had been suspended. Berlin was being held in the Dauphin County jail. - AP