Danny Drake/AP

 

Louis Magazzu, a Cumberland County freeholder in New Jersey, resigned Tuesday after nude photos of him surfaced.

Garden State Democrat Louis Magazzu announced his resignation Tuesday after nude pictures he sent to a woman he had been corresponding with were posted on a Republican activist's website.

At least two of the photos showed the Cumberland County freeholder's crotch, two showed him dressed to the nines in a suit, and a fifth showed him waist up without a shirt.

The tawdry photos - taken in front of a mirror with a smartphone - are similar to those that led to Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Queens-Brooklyn) to call it quits in June.

Magazzu, a 53-year-old lawyer who had been an elected county official for more than a decade, apologized to his friends, family and constituents in a statement, but indicated he had been set up.

"I did not know that she was working with an avowed political enemy to distribute these pictures," Magazzu said of the Chicago woman he corresponded with online with for several years but claims he never met. "I have retained counsel to determine what laws may have been broken by the unauthorized distribution of those pictures."

Magazzu, who has five children, has been separated from his wife for about two years. He claims no government devices were used to receive or send the pictures.

Unlike Weiner, who waited weeks before resigning, Magazzu stepped down just a day after the photo scandal hit local papers.

Carl Johnson, of Milville, who posted the photos on Magazzuwatch.com, said he would consider taking down the photos.

"He should have stepped down a long time ago for many reasons. His brand of politics is harmful to the entire political process," Johnson told The Associated Press.  "I'm sorry it had to happen this way."

With News Wire Services