The Evangelical Christian who entered public life as a 30-year-old virgin admits he is no longer after 16 years in public life

No so pure: After 16 years in public life, Rep Tim Scott, a devout Evangelical Christian, admits to having per-marital sex

Rep Tim Scott first campaigned across South Carolina as a proud 30-year-old virgin, unabashed about his Evangelical Christian faith and his devotion to God's commandments.



That pledge of abstinence has not survived his career in politics. After 16 years in public life and winning a seat in the US House, Scott, now 46 and still unmarried, admits he is no longer a virgin.

The Congressman also attracted controversy recent when it was revealed he brought along a female friend on a junket to an exclusive resort.

The information came to light when he notified the House Ethics Committee he had to pay back a conservative think tank for part of the three-day getaway because he invited Zee Patel, a lingerie store manager, to stay with him, instead of his aunt.



When Scott entered public life in 1995 as a candidate for Charleston County Council, he was a trailblazer -- the first black Republican elected in South Carolina since Reconstruction.



According to a recent profile of Scott in the National Journal, the then-30-year-old bachelor campaigned on his strong religious convocations.

He proudly told audiences he had never had sexual contact with a woman because it was against God's word.



Junket: It was revealed Zee Patel, the manager of Bits of Lace lingerie shop, accompanied Scott for a three-day getaway to an exclusive resort







After 13 years in county government, he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives.



In 2010, he rode the Tea Party movement into election to the US House -- one of just two black Republicans and the first elected from South Carolina in 114 years.



But along the way, he seems to have lost his personal disposition toward per-maritial sex.

Asked about how well he's sticking to his pledge of abstinence now, compared with 16 years ago, he laughed.

'Yeah… Not as well as I did then,' Scott told the National Journal from his office on Capitol Hill.

'The Bible’s right. You’re better off to wait. I just wish we all had more patience.'

Luxury: Scott took Miss Patel to the the Cloister Resort on secluded Sea Island in Georgia while he attended a conference for the American Enterprise Institute

Later, at a dinner with his staffers, a waitress took notice of Scott. And he seemed to take notice back.



'I think you’re hot,’ she said and put her palm on Scott’s shaved head, the political newspaper reported.



‘I can feel your heat from over here.’

Scott has comes under scrutiny for his relationship with Zee Patel, the general manager of a Charleston lingerie store called Bits of Lace, which specializes in custom-fitted bras.



He took her along for a three-day getaway to the exclusive Cloister Beach Club on the Georgia coast as part of a junket paid for by the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think-tank, the Washington Post reported.



Remote: The conservative think-tank paid $876 for his suite, which Scott shared with his mother and Miss Patel

Cloister, named one of Travel and Leisure magazine's top 100 resorts in the world, is an isolated vacation spot on Sea Island and it was the site of the 2004 G8 Summit.



Scott claims Miss Patel is merely a 'close family friend' and said it was actually his mother's idea to bring her along. He intended to bring his aunt, he said, but when she couldn't go, he invited Miss Patel, according to the Post.



Miss Patel stayed in Scott's $876 suite, along with Scott and his mother.



In 2010, he paid her $1,650 to work on his transition team, the Post reports.



Because organizations can only pay the travel and lodging expenses of members of Congress and their family members -- not their 'friends' -- Scott will have to pay back whatever the American Enterprise Institute paid for Miss Patel's stay.

Still, Scott -- no longer a proud virgin -- said he doesn't necessarily condone his own behavior.

