Oregon Congressman David Wu resigns amid sex scandal

Embattled Democratic Rep. David Wu of Oregon - who went from being mocked for his furry tiger suit to serious accusations of sexual assault - resigned Tuesday.

Wu, 56, quit four days after reports emerged that the 18-year-old daughter of a childhood friend had accused him of an aggressive unwanted sexual encounter last Thanksgiving. The divorced, seven-term congressman did not deny the encounter occurred, but said it was consensual.

"The well-being of my children must come before anything else. With great sadness, I therefore intend to resign effective upon the resolution of the debt-ceiling crisis," Wu said in a statement.

The debt- ceiling stalemate is expected to be resolved by next week.

Wu apparently started becoming unglued last fall, when he sent photos of himself in a tiger costume using his congressional BlackBerry to female staffers on Oct. 30.

Wu is the fifth congressman to resign amid scandal since January 2010, and the third Democrat.

Three of the disgraced pols were New Yorkers: Eric Massa, from upstate, who faced an ethics investigation into his groping male staffers; Chris Lee, also from upstate, who sent a topless photo to a woman on a dating site, and Anthony Weiner, who sent raunchy photos and dirty texts to women he met online.