Dem Caught Posing With Sex Toy Calls Controversy 'Sexist'

(ABC News) - Krystal Ball, a Democrat running for Congress in Virginia, has accused conservative political operatives of a sexist smear campaign, leaking racy photographs of her taken at a holiday costume party.

Ball, 28, a first-time candidate, said the images were taken six years ago, soon after she graduated from college. The images, which depict Ball in a short skirt and Santa Claus hat posing with her husband, an unidentified woman and a sex toy, were first posted on the conservative blog Virginia Virtucon. The photos have since gone viral, spreading all over the Internet and making Ball one of the most searched terms on Google.

Virginia Virtucon has since removed the photos from its website.

Ball accused her Republican opponent, Rep. Rob Wittman, the incumbent, of being behind the pictures' publication. Wittman has denied any involvement and called from the pictures to be taken off websites.