Lawmaker mistakenly hands out document with porn references

Rhode Island State Rep. Ramon Perez. (State of Rhode Island General Assembly)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Be careful when you're surfing the web.

That's the lesson learned by a Rhode Island lawmaker, who acknowledged he mistakenly gave his colleagues a handout that showed open browser tabs referencing pornographic content.

State Rep. Ramon Perez brought printouts of a Wikipedia article Wednesday to give to House Finance Committee members as part of his testimony in favor of a bill.

The screenshot reportedly showed multiple open browser tabs with titles referencing pornographic material. No images could be seen.

A House spokesman confirmed Perez gave the document to the clerk, who made copies and distributed them. The clerk collected the handouts from members when the tabs were discovered. Perez submitted a new handout the next day.

Perez says the incident was "a mistake." He says the handout was provided to him by a friend whom he'd asked to research the information.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.