GAY SHERIFF CLEARED OF BLACKMAILING EX-BOYFRIEND

American sheriff Paul Babeu, who was accused of threatening to have his ex-boyfriend deported if he revealed that they had an affair, has been cleared.

Babeu dropped his campaign to run for congress when he came out after being confronted by claims that he had threatened Jose Orozco, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, with deportation if he made their relationship public.

Babeu (43), who also stepped down as the co-chair of Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s Arizona campaign, retaliated by accusing Orozco of theft of property and identity theft relating to him misusing Babeu’s website and Twitter account.

On Friday, the Arizona state attorney general’s office said that it would not pursue charges against the sheriff or his former lover.

“The investigation determined that Babeu did not commit any criminal violations and further concluded that, although Orozco conducted himself in a manner that may constitute a violation of the law, there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction on anything more than a misdemeanour charge,” said State Solicitor General Dave Cole.

Babeu welcomed the news. “I was attacked personally, professionally and politically with these false allegations, and today I’m fully cleared. It’s no surprise these attacks came during an election year in a failed attempt to destroy me.”

Despite taking a strong stand against illegal immigration, Babeu used Orozco as a volunteer in his campaign before starting a relationship with the man.