The family of a Northern Ireland civil servant facing underage sex charges in the United States have promised to stand by him.
Mr Stan Mallon, acting chief executive of the Ulster Scots Agency, was arrested outside a Chicago hotel on May 8th.
They said Mr Mallon (62), from west Belfast, who is being held in Chicago's Metropolitan Correctional Centre, would be strenuously denying all criminal activity and was working on a number of defences.
Mr Mallon is due in court again next week on a charge of crossing a state boundary for the purposes of having sex with a 14-year-old girl.
Some of his family have travelled to Chicago. A statement by family solicitor said: "They are convinced of his total innocence and intend to support him in every way possible".
Mr Mallon is due in court on March 25th when his legal team has the option to consider seeking bail.
He was detained outside the Amerisuites Hotel after arriving in Chicago on his way to Washington to help promote the Ulster Scots Agency.
US authorities claim he had arranged to have sex with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl after making repeated contact with her in an Internet chat room. The girl was an undercover police officer, it is alleged.
PA