According to USA Today, former TV reporter Al Zimmerman was charged Friday in Tallahassee with eight counts of “using a child in a sexual performance.” Kiddie porn, in other words. Which is bad enough all by itself, but here’s what makes it even worse: Zimmerman was a spokesman for the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Zimmerman, 40, is accused of abusing two teenagers. One of the boys may have ties to the state child-welfare agency, according to the St. Petersburg Times.

“Here is an agency that is really trying hard to regain a very good image. Unfortunately, this particular activity hurts the image,” DCF Secretary Bob Butterworth tells the Palm Beach Post. ”All of us feel like he absolutely betrayed us.”

Zimmerman’s MySpace page has been taken down, but Google still has a cache.

About me:
I put my pants on one leg at a time.

Who I’d like to meet:
Someone who hates to cuddle afterwards, a friend that likes to pay for everything, and someone from another planet

Are you there, Michael Jackson?

Zimmerman’s MySpace also lists a brief resume from his TV news days: WMAZ-TV in Macon, Georgia (where he had a DUI); KENS-TV in San Antonio, Texas (where he has an outstanding warrant for grand theft); and Bay News 9 in Tampa, Florida. So the DCF’s background check must have consisted of, “Have you ever done anything bad? No? You’re hired!”

Let’s hope the cops look into his activities in those other cities. When you think about it, TV news seems like a perfect job for a pedophile: You move around all the time, you meet lots of people, and everybody just figures you’re such a creep because you work in local TV.