Bruce Hensel, TV Correspondent, Asked Child For Nude Pics: LAPD

LOS ANGELES, CA — Dr. Bruce Hensel, an Emmy-winning medical correspondent for NBC News in Los Angeles, was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department for allegedly asking a 9-year-old girl to send him sexually suggestive photos.

Hensel, 71, was detained about 10:15 a.m. by Los Angeles Police Department Juvenile Division investigators in the 9600 block of Santa Monica Boulevard, near Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The 71-year-old former chief medical correspondent for NBC4, was booked at about noon Wednesday. Hensel posted bail and was released at 6:35 p.m., according to sheriff's inmate records. According to the District Attorney's Office, Hensel was charged Wednesday with one felony count of contact with a minor for sexual purposes. Prosecutors said Hensel allegedly contacted the girl — the daughter of an acquaintance — on Aug. 4 using an online messaging app and asked her to send him suggestive photos.

An arraignment date has not been set.

"Dr. Hensel is completely innocent of the charge," said Hensel's attorney Steve Sitkoff. "We are cooperating with the authorities and look forward to a speedy and complete exoneration."

His arrest came almost a month after investigators with the Los Angeles Regional Internet Crime Against Children Task Force searched his Pacific Palisades home on Oct. 16, according to an ABC7 report.

LAPD officials had no immediate information on the arrest, but a spokesman said a statement would be released Wednesday afternoon.

If convicted as charged, Hensel faces up to 18 months in prison, according to the District Attorney's Office.

According to an online biography, Hensel won multiple Emmy Awards while serving as chief medical correspondent for NBC4. He recently produced and directed a Showtime documentary titled "Beyond the Opposite Sex," focused on transgender relationships.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.