Former Infoseek exec found guilty on child porn charges
A jury finds Patrick J. Naughton guilty of possessing child pornography but is unable to reach a verdict on charges that he crossed state lines for the purpose of having sex with a minor.
The California jury failed to reach a verdict on two other felony charges that Naughton used the Internet and crossed state lines to have sex with a minor. Naughton had been arrested in September on a pier in Santa Monica, Calif., where he planned to meet the girl.
Naughton was a key member of the team that created Sun Microsystems' Java computer programming language, and he more recently oversaw the Go Network of Web sites created by Infoseek and Walt Disney. His arrest was an embarrassing blow to Disney and its wholesome, family-friendly image.
Unlike most criminal defendants in similar cases, Naughton didn't reach a plea bargain with federal authorities. Instead, his attorneys tried the case, arguing that Naughton knew he wasn't talking to a real 13-year-old girl and that it was the FBI agent who kept pushing for a meeting.
During the trial before a 12-member jury in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Infoseek chief executive Harry M. Motro quoted Naughton as saying, "I did it," following his arrest. Naughton disputed the account during his own testimony.
Naughton faces up to 10 years in prison on the child pornography charge, federal authorities said.
Because federal law defines the possession of child pornography as a crime of violence, Naughton was taken into custody after the verdict was read in court this morning and is being held without bail, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 6, Mrozek said.
Federal authorities will return to court Jan. 5 for a hearing on whether Naughton will be retried on the two other counts, Mrozek said.
The FBI agent, Bruce Applin, posed as the 13-year-old girl using the name "krisLA" in an Internet chat room called "#0!!!!!!!!dad&daughtersex." Using the name "hotseattle," Naughton identified himself as a 33-year-old man from Seattle who traveled frequently to Los Angeles on business.
During one conversation with krisLA, Naughton said he was interested in meeting in Los Angeles "sometime" to "kiss, make out, and play and stuff," according to statement of facts filed in the case.
In others, Naughton referred krisLA to a Web site where she could view his picture and told her that he loved 13-year-old girls, the court papers said.
Motro testified that he told Naughton, who was Infoseek's executive vice president, "You're fired," during a phone call after the arrest.
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