A Republican lawmaker in Pennsylvania formally apologized to a mom who called him out on social after he asked her 12-year-old daughter about pornography at a school event.

The lawmaker’s comment occurred at a Civics Bee competition hosted by Pennsylvania State Schuylkill University, where 6th grader Mary Anderson made a presentation about book bans.

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It’s a pretty “crummy” situation, as Holden Caulfield might say.

State Senator David Argall (R) served as a judge at the Civics Bee.

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“Do you think we should allow pornographic magazines in kindergarten classrooms?” Argall asked Mary, earning a collective gasp from the audience.

Erin Anderson, Mary’s mom, said Argall pressed on after Mary “looked confused and had to ask, ‘What does that mean?’”

Argall told Mary, along with the other preteen contestants and children and parents in the audience, that he meant “naked pictures of people in books and magazines.”

Anderson told Penn Live she approached Argall after the event, and he defended his stance. She said the lawmaker told her “the topics were one and the same, when clearly they are not.”

“I let him know I was very displeased that this was said to not only my 12-year-old, but that I also would have to explain this to my nine-year-old now as well,” Anderson said.

Reaction to Anderson’s account was swift and the story spread online rapidly, earning the senator headlines like, “Argall shames himself at ‘Civics Bee,'” “Senator asked child pornography question at civics event,” and “Pennsylvania state senator asks 6th-grade girl ‘wildly inappropriate’ pornography question at civics competition” — from the rightwing New York Post, no less.

The bad press inspired Argall’s come-to-Jesus apology the next day.

“During last night’s local round of the National Civics Bee, I posed a question as a volunteer judge to a participant that was not age-appropriate for this setting,” Argall said in a statement. “I apologize to the young lady, her family, and all the participants who worked hard to get to this point, with excellent presentations by the students who submitted entries on book bans and many other important subjects.”

But Argall couldn’t help adding a defense for what Anderson described as his “appalling” question.

“I was attempting to ask if some books and magazines are not appropriate for some age groups, a subject which has received considerable attention in the General Assembly in recent years,” the senator added. “In hindsight, my obvious mistake was in citing an example that was itself not appropriate for this age group, a mistake which I will not make again.”

For Mary’s mom, Argall’s hedged apology may not suffice.

“If a public official cannot exercise good judgment and basic appropriateness when speaking to children, especially in a civic education setting, then it raises serious concerns about their ability to serve,” Anderson said.

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