His retrial was to have begun March 21, but former Internet wunderkind Patrick Naughton pled guilty March 18 in a case in which his original defense had been fantasy role playing involving underage sex with a "girl" he met online.
But he had been convicted of possessing child porn on his computer. However, the day after he was convicted, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a portion of the federal law under which he was convicted - saying the appearance of child porn didn't exactly equal child porn.
Naughton had been free since days following that ruling, pending a prosecution appeal of the ruling for a retrial on that charge. Now, however, he faces a maximum of 15 years behind bars and a $250,000 fine. He could get no more than 18 months, though, depending on whether he cooperates with federal prosecutors. Moreover, early reports indicated his plea bargain included a mandate that he use his Internet smarts to help capture online pedophiles.
Naughton was arrested in September 1999 in a sting operation when he went to the Santa Monica Pier to meet a girl known to him only as KrisLA. Online, KrisLA turned out to be an undercover FBI agent. In person, KrisLA was a sheriff's investigator dressed to appear like a young girl.
Naughton, who made his reputation at Sun Microsystems on the Java team, is set for sentencing June 5. He will remain free on bail until then.
