A Republican US senator, known for advocating Christian family values, has apologised for the sex scandal that linked his phone number to a Washington prostitution ring.
Louisiana Senator David Vitter told reporters that he will go back to work, despite calls for him to resign.
He claimed his undescribed sins occurred several years ago, and that his enemies were dredging up the scandal to hurt him.
'No matter how long ago it was I know this has hurt the relationship of trust I have with so many of you,' said Sen Vitter, whose wife, Wendy, stood beside him.
'Wendy and I dealt with this personally several years ago. I confronted it in confession and marriage counselling, I believe I received forgiveness from God, I know I did from Wendy,' said the 46-year-old father of four.
Sen Vitter's phone number was found five times in phone records dating from 1999 to 2001 for 'DC Madam' Deborah Jeane Palfrey, who is accused of running a prostitution ring in Washington.
Ms Palfrey has said she operated a legal escort service.
Sen Vitter had issued a statement on 9 July admitting to 'a very serious sin in my past' and then went into seclusion until yesterday.
During the past week, former New Orleans madam Jeanette Maier said Mr Vitter was a customer at her Canal Street bordello in the late 1990s, before he was a Senator, and another woman identified as Wendy Cortez told a New Orleans paper he had been her regular client several years ago.
The allegations stunned many in Louisiana because Sen Vitter, a Harvard graduate and Rhodes scholar, was a highly visible social conservative who championed family values and ardently opposed abortion and gay marriage.
In contrast to roguish Louisiana politicians of the past, he portrayed himself as a squeaky-clean reformer against immorality and corruption.
Mr Vitter went to Washington in 1999 after winning a special election to replace Congressman Bob Livingston, who had resigned in a sex scandal.
Political analysts say a Vitter resignation is unlikely for now because Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat, would likely appoint a Democrat to replace him.
That would add to the Democrats' slim margin in the Senate, which the party now controls 51-49.
