By CNN Staff
updated 12:04 PM EST, Mon January 7, 2013

(CNN) -- The 19-year-old son of U.S. Sen. Rand Paul was charged with underage drinking and disorderly conduct after being arrested over the weekend at North Carolina's Charlotte Douglas International Airport, authorities said.

William Hilton Paul was arrested Saturday following a flight from Kentucky to North Carolina, according to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office in Charlotte.

Authorities did not say whether Paul, of Bowling Green, Kentucky, was believed to have been drinking on the airplane or at the airport.

The senator's office released a statement calling the issue a private family matter.

"Sen. Paul is a national public figure and subject to scrutiny in the public arena, however, as many parents with teenagers would understand, his family should be afforded the privacy and respect they deserve in a situation such as this," according to the statement released late Sunday by Moira Bagley, Paul's communications director.

The younger Paul was charged with three misdemeanor offenses: disorderly conduct at an airport, being intoxicated and disruptive and consuming beer and wine underage.

He has maintained a fairly low profile, appearing at a handful of campaign events alongside his father.

The first-term senator was elected in 2010 with strong Tea Party support, and in recent months he has publicly said he is interested in running for president in 2016.

Rand Paul is the son of retiring Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who was the 1988 libertarian candidate for president, and who made bids in 2008 and 2012 for the GOP presidential nomination under the mantle of libertarian conservatism.

CNN's Chandler Friedman, John Branch, Jonathan Helman and Steve Brusk.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/07/politics/ ... Stories%29

Probably can be classified as "age appropriate" behavior ~ and it has no bearing on who his father is ~ I think Rand Paul self-certifying his own competency in opthamology is far more concerning ~ but what chafes me is the family asking for "privacy and respect" when I am willing to bet Rand Paul would use this kind of episode against others ~

Sooz

I am willing to bet Rand Paul would use this kind of episode against others ~

I'm willing to bet he already has.

He's 19.
He can vote.
He can enlist and die for his country.
He can't have a drink?

Ridiculous, innit?

Hilton?

Maybe it's a family name.

Sarah Palin's 23 yo son filed for divorce after a couple of months, too.

The far right have the same problems everyone else does.

I bet the children of parents from the far right have it a lot tougher than others. They have to 'try' to live up to a false identity. They are built up to be above 'normal/regular' people which only enables them to fail and fall harder.