NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Sen. David Vitter, who publicly apologized after being linked to an alleged prostitution ring in Washington, was once a client of a high-priced New Orleans brothel, a former madam told a New Orleans television station Tuesday.

Jeanette Maier, who pleaded guilty to running the Canal Street brothel in 2002, made the allegation in an interview with WDSU-TV.

“He seemed to be one of the nicest men and most honorable men I’ve ever met,” Maier said in the taped interview.

Maier said that Vitter visited the brothel several times for several years in the mid 1990s. Maier’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for an interview by The Associated Press.

Vitter’s office did not respond to a call for comment on the latest allegation.

The night before, he’d made a startling confession in an e-mail to The Associated Press:

“This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible. Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling.”

Vitter, 46, and his wife Wendy live in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie with their four children.

Vitter, a first-term Republican who previously served in the House, recently played a prominent role in derailing an immigration bill backed by President Bush. He also is a key supporter of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s presidential bid, serving as regional campaign chairman for the South.