Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin has announced she is separating from her husband, the disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner, after he was caught sending yet more sexual messages and photos to a woman online.

Ms Abedin, who married Mr Weiner in 2010, has stood by her husband for six years throughout his run for New York mayor, during which he was exposed twice – in 2011 and 2013 – for sending pictures of his bulging underwear and using crude language.

“After long and painful consideration and work on my marriage, I have made the decision to separate from my husband,” she said in a statement.

“Anthony and I remain devoted to doing what is best for our son, who is the light of our lives. During this difficult time, I ask for respect for our privacy.”

In yet another scandal, the New York Post reported that Mr Weiner sent messages and pictures as recently as this month, including one taken of his crotch while his young son lay sleeping at his side.

He called the recipient, an unnamed woman, a "fantasy chick". When she suggested that his sexual arousal was a "disease", he replied that she was "the carrier".

Weiner, an avowed socialist who fought passionately for better housing in the Bronx and affordable healthcare after 9/11, crashed in the polls in 2013 after he was exposed for sexting for the second time in two years, despite telling People magazine the year before that he had undergone rehabilitation and felt like a "different person".

In the election, he lost to Bill de Blasio.

Ms Abedin, who has spent all of her working life as an aide to Ms Clinton, married Mr Weiner in 2010. Their wedding was officiated by Bill Clinton.

Despite the public humiliation, Ms Abedin told reporters in 2013 that she loved her husband and would stand by him.

The ups and downs of their marriage amid his personal scandals and his run for mayor was recorded in a documentary called Weiner, which was released this summer.

Donald Trump was quick to comment on the separation, telling the New York Times that Ms Abedin made "a very wise decision."