Washington, Feb 1 (IANS): The US Federal Department is considering to bring child pornography charges against former Democrat Anthony Weiner that could send him to prison for 15 years, a media report has said.

Weiner has been under investigation since a 2016 report revealed that he had exchanged lewd messages with an underage girl in North Carolina.

His lawyers have been meeting with Manhattan federal prosecutors in a bid to minimise his potential punishment, the New York Post reported Tuesday.

Weiner could be charged with production of child porn for allegedly soliciting explicit photos of the teen, the Post said.

He was forced to resign his House seat in the scandal that derailed his 2013 comeback campaign for mayor by sending lewd texts under the pseudonym "Carlos Danger".

The crime carries a mandatory minimum prison term of 15 years, and a maximum of 30.

Other charges under consideration include receipt of child pornography, which carries a five-year mandatory minimum, and possession of child pornography, the report added.

The laptop Weiner used to communicate with the girl was seized by the feds and helped derail Hillary Clinton's presidential bid when FBI Director James Comey announced in October 2016 that some of her emails to Weiner's wife, Huma Abedin, had been found on it.

In August, Abedin announced she was leaving Weiner after The Post exclusively revealed he had sent a woman a lewd photo of himself wearing white underpants with their four-year-old son lying next to him.

Weiner was forced to resign from the Congress in 2011 after accidentally tweeting a crotch shot that he initially tried to blame on a hack of his account.

A spokesman for Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara and a lawyer representing Weiner declined to comment on the case.