Former judge pleads guilty to possessing child porn

A former Orange County superior court judge was placed on interim suspension last month after pleading guilty to four counts of possessing child pornography. RONALD CRAVER KLINE [#58903], 65, of Irvine lost his license March 3, 2006, and faced sentencing by a federal judge March 27.

Under a plea agreement in December, Kline admitted he stored more than 100 sexually explicit photos of young boys, some younger than 12, in his home computer and several disks found during a 2001 search. Although he could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years, the agreement recommends between 27 to 33 months. He will have to register as a sex offender when he is released from prison and pay a fine. Two other counts were dropped as part of the plea agreement.

“After four years of litigation we’re pleased he has accepted responsibility for his crime,” said Assist-ant U.S. Attorney Deirdre Eliot.

Appointed to the bench by Gov. Pete Wilson in 1995, Kline was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2001 and charged with six counts of possession of child pornography. After posting a $50,000 bond, he was placed on home detention and ordered to wear a tracking bracelet.

According to the indictment, Kline possessed more than 100 images of child pornography on a computer hard drive, computer disks and a commercial videotape. The images depicted actual or simulated sex acts between boys.

Investigators alleged in court documents that Kline recorded his thoughts about his sexual attraction to teenage boys in a diary and detailed visits to shopping malls, the shower area of an athletic club and Little League games, where he served as an umpire.

The charges were the result of an investigation by the U.S. Customs Service, the Irvine Police Depart-ment and the Orange County District Attorney. Authorities were tipped off after a Canadian hacker broke into the judge’s computer and sent images and excerpts from his diary to a Colorado-based watchdog group, Pedowatch. The group notified Irvine police.

In addition, Kline was arrested and charged with molesting an adolescent boy almost 25 years earlier. The accuser had never reported the alleged abuse but contacted police after reading about the federal charges. He accused Kline of molesting him at least four times when Kline was a civil attorney. The molestation charges were dismissed after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling barred prosecution of old sex crimes.

In addition, a judge threw out the federal charges in 2003, ruling that the hacker was a government agent when he hacked into Kline’s computer, and therefore a search warrant was required. Judge Consuelo Marshall ruled that the images and diary entries were obtained illegally and could not be used in the case. She also threw out evidence found on his office computer because, she ruled, it resulted from tainted searches of his home computer.

Marshall was reversed by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said law enforcement did not have advance knowledge of the hacker’s activities, so a warrant was not required. Kline appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case.

Kline was seeking re-election to the bench in 2002 but eventually withdrew his candidacy.

In a statement after Kline pleaded guilty, Paul Meyer, his lawyer, said his client has “already been punished for his conduct” and “looks forward to the day when he can once again return to a meaningful and productive life.”

State Bar Deputy Chief Trial Counsel Russell Weiner said the bar is evaluating whether Kline’s conviction qualifies for summary disbarment.