ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — State Attorney Jeff Ashton admitted at a press conference Sunday that he was a member of the Ashley Madison website, a paid dating service for people looking to have an extramarital affair.
Hackers released the list of the alleged clients on the site last month.
“My hope is only that this incredibly poor judgement in a personal matter will not be compared by the public to 35 years of what I hope were very, very good judgements,” he said at the afternoon press conference.
Raw: Casey Anthony prosecutor apologizes for Ashley Madison account
PDF: State Attorney Jeff Ashton's Statement
The announcement for the press conference came after Channel 9’s request for an interview regarding the initial published reports on the website East Orlando Post this weekend.
The website’s founder has been critical of some of Ashton’s cases in the past.
Channel 9 reporter Michael Lopardi asked the state attorney if he thought it was a political attack.
“The Post may have been politically motivated, but they had every right to do it. I did something incredibly stupid and I should have been called on it,” Ashton said.
He added that although he had an account with the site, he never met anyone and never had an affair. He said he made the account out of curiosity.
“While no laws have been broken, these were incredibly stupid choices,” Ashton said.
Ashton said he created the account using his personal email address and personal credit card.
He said he accessed the site while at work, but used his personal laptop and public Wi-Fi.
Ashton got choked up during the announcement and said he deeply regrets his affiliation with the site and the affect it may have on his family.
"I did not commit a crime," he said.
He went on to say that he has no intention of stepping down and regrets giving ammunition to people looking to discredit his office.
"I think I've humiliated myself enough for one weekend. Tomorrow morning I go back to work," he said.
Ashton gained notoriety as the lead prosecutor in the Casey Anthony murder trial.
Months after losing in the courtroom in the high-profile case, he won a spot on the New York Times’ Best Seller’s list, writing about the trial and how Anthony slipped through his fingers.
By January 2012, he was challenging his old boss and a new challenge as he sought to unseat former State Attorney Lawson Lamar.
Ashton is not up for re-election until 2016.
A spokesperson for Orange County said in a statement that Mayor Teresa Jacobs has ordered technical teams to "conduct a complete review of the database to be sure that no employee has used taxpayer time or resources to access this site."
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