Five days after the romantic text messages were released, Christine L. Beatty, chief of staff for Detroit’s mayor, resigned on Monday, thus demonstrating that she and mayor didn’t say the truth under oath. The two denied of having an affair in 2002 and 2003.

Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick denied last summer in court the allegations that he had had an affair with Beatty, with whom he has been friends since high school. But the Detroit Free Press discovered about 14,000 messages on Beatty’s pager which showed that the two had been romantically involved. Some of these messages sounded like this: “I’m madly in love with you,” “And did you miss me, sexually?” “I’ve been dreaming all day about having you all to myself for 3 days. Relaxing, laughing, talking, sleeping and making love.”

If this discovery is taken into account he could face a sentence of 15 years in jail for perjury.

Beatty wrote on Monday in a letter to Kilpatrick explaining the reason for her resignation. She says that she “can no longer effectively carry out the duties of chief of staff” and that beginning February 8 her resignation will be effective.

The letter also said: “I painfully regret the devastation that the recent reports have caused to the citizens of Detroit, to my co-workers, to the mayor’s family and to my family and friends,” the New York Times reports.

She was married at the time of the affair but then divorced in 2006.

Kilpatrick is not showing any signs of resignation even though on Friday a union of 900 municipal workers asked for him to resign.  

Also on Friday the Wayne County prosecutor, Kym L. Worthy, said that she would see if the two committed perjury when they’ve declared last summer that they didn’t had an affair.

David Fott, a political science professor at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas who has a program in ethics and politics, says that politicians should apologize quickly.

He said: "A prompt apology does a lot to minimize damage. Apologizing might not have been enough 50 years ago, but nowadays people are more willing to be understanding and to relate."

Kilpatrick has done the contrary. He is staying at his home meeting with lawyers while the press waits for any comment.

He is expected to make a speech on Wednesday evening.