PITTSBURGH — Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett says a state legislative staffer wanted to engage in sex acts with a teenage boy while dressed in a panda costume.

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

A Corbett spokesman says the boy's parents alerted authorities after finding sexually graphic messages on his computer. He says agents found a wolf and cat-type costume in Berlin's home.

A spokesman for Sen. Jane Orie says Berlin has been fired. Berlin worked in the Senate about a decade, including the last several years with the Allegheny County Republican. Berlin is being held in the Dauphin County jail.

Orie, R-40th, said, "As a former 10-year veteran prosecutor who specialized in prosecuting child abuse and child sexual assault cases and successfully convicted numerous sex offenders, I was shocked and appalled.

"I fully and staunchly support the actions of the attorney general's office in investigating and prosecuting all child abuse and sexual assault cases –– including the work of the AG's Child Predator Unit.

"As soon as the matter was brought to our attention, the individual was immediately and indefinitely suspended without pay and without benefits and as of today he has been fired."