Senator Craig's Guilty Plea to Bathroom Sex

The Court of Appeals: Sen. Larry Craig can't take back his plea. The Senator was nabbed in a sex sting in a restroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

The right to privacy and to be left alone is "very strong" in a public restroom stall, the state Court of Appeals said Tuesday in rejecting U.S. Sen. Larry Craig's attempt to withdraw his 2007 guilty plea to disorderly conduct in an airport men's bathroom sex sting.

In a statement, Craig said he is innocent, disappointed and is considering an appeal.

A three-judge panel of the court issued a crisply worded opinion denying the senator's attempt to withdraw his mail-in plea. The decision allowed a ruling from Hennepin County District Court Judge Charles Porter to stand. Porter rejected Craig's attempt to rescind the plea he sent to District Court Judge Gary Larson.

Craig was arrested in June 2007 by undercover police Sgt. Dave Karsnia in a sting operation at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Karsnia, who was in a stall, said Craig peered in for more than two minutes from 3 feet away -- so close, Karsnia said, that the officer could see the senator's blue eyes. Prosecutors described Craig as peering into the stall with a "prehensile stare."

When the next stall opened, Craig went in and then tapped his foot and waved his hand under the stall, behavior indicative of an interest in a sexual encounter, the complaint said.

Once his conviction became public, the senator tried to rescind his plea. He did not seek reelection last fall in large part because of the fallout from the arrest and published reports raising questions about his sex life.

The court dismissed Craig's arguments that the disorderly conduct statute was too broad and that the mail-in plea was insufficient to sustain a conviction.

Craig said he disagrees with its findings. "I maintain my innocence, and currently my attorneys and I are reviewing the decision and looking into the possibility of appealing," he said in a statement on his Senate website.