Washington: A Republican Congressman resigned his seat after reports that he sent sexually explicit Internet messages to a teenage boy who worked as a page in the US legislature.
Mark Foley, 52, has championed tough laws against Internet child pornography and sex offenders.
Hours before he quit Friday, the broadcaster ABC revealed instant messages it said Foley had sent to the former page at the US Capitol in Washington, who was 16 at the time.
"I am deeply sorry and I apologise for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent," Foley said in a letter announcing his immediate resignation.
Foley has been in Congress since 1995 and the revelations - which he did not publicly dispute - came in the midst of his re-election campaign.
His departure from what was considered a safe Republican seat came six weeks before Nov 7 mid-term elections where President George Bush's party is battling hard to keep a majority in both houses of Congress.
"He's done the right thing," House speaker Dennis Hastert told reporters in Washington. "None of us are very happy about it."
ABC said it had read excerpts of instant messages provided by former Congressional pages who said Foley made references to sexual organs and acts.
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