Case of Judge Ronald Kline
Turtle Rock, CA
Irvine, CA
Molestation charges against former Judge Ronald Kline, an Irvine resident, were to be dismissed Wednesday, July 2, 2003. The case thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court's ban on the prosecution of old sex crimes. The original charges stated that Kline molested a 14-year-old boy in Irvine in 1979. The high court nullified a 1994 California law that eliminated the statute of limitations on some sex crimes
On October 4, 2004, a federal appeals court revived
child porn charges against a former California judge. The ruling will
allow hundreds of images of naked children from his computers can be used
at trial.
Disclaimer: Inclusion in this website does
not constitute a recommendation or endorsement. Individuals must decide for
themselves if the resources meet their own personal needs.
What the law says (11/15/2001)
Judge facing pornography charges (11/15/2001)
Judge ordered to stand trial in sex case (07/20/2001)
Twenty jurists sign election document for Ronald Kline, facing child-porn case (12/07/2001)
O.C. judge charged with child molestation (01/10/2002)
Judge charged with molesting boy 25 years ago (01/17/2002)
Protecting America's Children (01/01/2002)
Accused Pedophile Judge Running Unopposed for Reelection (03/02/2002)
Judge Kline pleads not guilty to molestation charges (03/21/2002)
Prosecutors add detail to Kline molestation case (04/20/2002)
Kline may face more charges (4/11/2002)
High-profile case due in court this summer (05/23/2002)
OC Judge Pleads Not Guilty To Sex Charges (08/09/2002)
Child molestation charges against former superior court judge dropped (07/02/2003)
Condit's future on line in California primary (07/03/2003)
Kline case tossed by court (07/03/2003)
Federal court revives child porn case against former judge in California (10/04/2003)
Case against ex-judge Kline gutted (10/30/2003)
Kid Porn Case Vs. Calif. Ex-Judge Revived (10/04/2004)
Porn case against ex-judge reviv (10/04/2004)
Court revives porn case against judge (10/05/2004)
Also see:
Background Information and The History of Rabbinical Ordinations
Irvine World News - November 15, 2001
http://www.irvineworldnews.com/Astories/nov15/judge.html
Judge Ronald C. Kline was arrested Friday for violating Title 18, 2252A (a) (5) (B) of the United States Code: Any person who knowingly possesses any book, magazine, periodical, film, videotape, computer disk, or any other material that contains an image of child pornography that has been mailed, or shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce by any means, including by computer, or that was produced using materials that have been mailed, or shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce by any means, including by computer.
Judge ordered to stand trial in sex case
Court - Los Angeles jurist finds probable cause that Kline committed illegal acts against boy.
The Orange County Register - July 20, 2002
By Greg Hardesty
A judge ruled Friday that there is probable cause to believe that Judge Ronald Kline seduced and molested a 14-year-old boy after Kline met the minor in an Irvine neighborhood in 1979.
That means there is sufficient evidence for Kline, 61, to stand trial on five state charges of child molestation -- felonies that could put him behind bars for 14 years.
Kline, appearing with his three attorneys at a preliminary hearing before Los Angeles Judge Daniel Solis Pratt, also faces
OC Judge Pleads Not Guilty To Sex Charges - Kline Remains
A Paid Judge Until Jan. 1
NBC4 News - August 9, 2002
http://www.nbc4.tv/news/1605054/detail.html
NORWALK, Calif. -- An Orange County Superior Court judge who
is under house arrest, but still getting his paycheck, pleaded not guilty
Friday to five charges stemming from alleged sex acts in 1979 with a 14-year-old
boy he befriended in an Irvine neighborhood.
Judge Ronald Kline faces up to five years, eight months in prison if convicted of the five counts of oral copulation.
He also faces trial in federal court on child pornography charges. Kline has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges, as well.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Daniel Solis Pratt ordered Kline back to court on Oct. 25 for a pretrial hearing, a court clerk said.
The alleged molestation victim, who is now 37 years old, contacted authorities after learning about the child pornography charges.
The 61-year-old judge is accused of performing the acts in the summer of 1979.
The parents had reported to police, in 1980, what they believed to be "stalking" of their son, but no disclosures of sexual molestation were made at the time and charges did not result.
In 1982, Kline, who was an attorney at the time, and the then-18-year-old went on vacation together. Their alleged relationship was referred to in a letter that Kline wrote to him, authorities said.
Child molestation charges against former superior court
judge dropped
Associated Press - July 2, 2003
http://www.courttv.com/news/2003/0702/judge_ap.html
NORWALK, Calif. (AP) — Child molestation charges against a former judge were dismissed Wednesday after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a California law allowing the prosecution of decades-old sex crimes.
Former Superior Court Judge Ronald Kline, 62, who is under house arrest for unrelated child pornography charges, could have gotten more than five years in prison if convicted.
Prosecutor Sheila Hanson said that her office was disappointed but that last week's high court ruling left no other choice.
Kline's attorney, Paul S. Meyer, said he was confident Kline would have won the case if it had gone to trial.
A man claimed that as a 12-year-old, he was molested by Kline between 1976 and 1978. The man and Kline lived in the same neighborhood.
Kline, who has stepped down from the bench, still faces a federal charge of having child pornography on his court computer.
Kline was running for re-election last year when the pornography and molestation charges surfaced. He withdrew from a November runoff election.
On June 17, a judge threw out key evidence found on Kline's home computer, ruling it had been seized after an illegal search by a hacker working as a government agent.
The ruling forced the dismissal of porn charges related to the home computer, leaving only the count related to Kline's court computer.
Charges Dropped Against 4 Suspected of Sex
Crimes
After a Supreme Court ruling, cases of ex-judge, two ex-priests and an ex-teacher are dismissed.
By Christine Hanley and Akilah Johnson
Los Angeles Times - July 3, 2003
Child molestation charges were dropped against former Orange County Superior Court Judge Ronald C. Kline and three other suspected Southern California molesters Wednesday, following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that bars prosecution of old sex cases.
A San Bernardino judge also ordered the release of a man who recently began serving a sentence for a molestation in the '80s.
[Photo Caption - Dismissed: Five felony charges against former Judge Ronald Kline have been dropped. One count remains.]
One week after Supreme Court justices found a California law unconstitutional because it waived the statute of limitations in sexual abuse cases, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Daniel Solis Pratt dismissed five felony charges against Kline. They stemmed from an incident in which Kline allegedly molested a 14-year-old boy in 1979. Authorities charged Kline after a computer hacker obtained a copy of his diary and forwarded it to police.
Kline's molestation case is one of hundreds statewide that exceed a six-year statute of limitations on molestation and may be abandoned as a result of the high court's ruling. The California attorney general has directed prosecutors across the state to re-examine cases that may be affected by the ruling and estimates that as many as 800 cases may need to be reviewed.
"It's a very difficult process to identify people who were prosecuted under this statute," said Hallye Jordan, spokeswoman for the attorney general's office. "We're still trying to figure out how many cases we have here."
Charges were dropped against Kline, who would have faced up to six years in prison if convicted, after defense attorney Paul S. Meyer filed a motion to dismiss them. Saying she had no other choice, Deputy Dist. Atty. Sheila Hanson declined to oppose the motion.
"I'm disappointed that the victim and the public have lost their chance to seek justice for the abuse that occurred," Hanson said. "But the United States Supreme Court has ruled, and as a result Mr. Kline cannot be prosecuted for these offenses."
After Wednesday's hearing, Kline's lawyer said he would have expected the same outcome had the case gone to trial.
"We plead not guilty from Day One," Meyer said. "In all of the hoopla about the Supreme Court, let's not forget the presumption of innocence. I am confident Judge Kline would have been acquitted in trial."
The dismissal of the state charges is the second dose of good news for Kline in three weeks. It comes after a federal judge's decision to throw out most of the key evidence in a separate child pornography case against him.
Two years after Kline's arrest and his decision to give up his bid for another term on the Orange County bench, the cases against him have been greatly reduced.
Kline, 64, once faced a combination of state and federal felonies and misdemeanors. Now, unless the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals restores crucial evidence in the federal case, the former judge faces a single federal count of possession of child pornography, a felony that carries a maximum of five years in prison.
In addition to the dismissal of Kline's case Wednesday, authorities in Orange and Los Angeles counties announced the dismissal of charges against two former priests and an ex-teacher.
Orange County prosecutors reported that charges have been dismissed against two abuse suspects: Carl Bucy, a Huntington Beach middle school teacher accused of molesting a female student in the early 1970s, and Gerald John Plesetz, a former priest accused of impregnating a 14-year-old girl who allegedly gave birth to his child almost 30 years ago.
In Los Angeles County, John Anthony Salazar became the first former priest in the county to have molestation charges dismissed against him. Salazar was charged with molesting a student at St. Bernard High School in Playa del Rey and an altar boy at Santa Teresita Church in Los Angeles more than 20 years ago. Prosecutors said the cases against nine other priests will probably be dismissed as well.
"As Mr. [Dist. Atty. Steve] Cooley said before, it looks like all those are going to be dismissed," said Deputy Dist. Atty. Irene Wakabayashi, assistant head deputy of the sex-crimes division.
Though priests only account for a small fraction of the more than 200 cases throughout L.A. County thought to be affected by the ruling, they are the only cases so far that authorities have been able to identify outright.
The priests' cases are easy to identify, said Jane Robison, spokesperson for the L.A. County district attorney's office. "They are the only pending cases we have right now."
Also Wednesday, in San Bernardino County Superior Court, a judge ordered a 60-year-old man released from jail, where he recently began serving a six-year sentence for molesting a female minor in his family between 1980 and 1984. A jury convicted Eli Mellor in January. (Please note that there is more then one person with the name Eli Mellor)
Times staff writers Lance Pugmire and Monte Morin contributed to this report.
Condit's future on line in California
primary
CNN - March 5, 2003
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/03/05/california.primaries/
In other races, Linda Sanchez is making a bid to join sister Rep. Loretta Sanchez in Congress. She is one of five Democrats seeking the nomination in the 39th Congressional District, an open seat in a heavily Hispanic and Democratic area of Los Angeles County.
And in Orange County, Superior Court Judge Ronald Kline, under house arrest after being charged with child molestation and possession of child pornography, is running unopposed for re-election. But 11 candidates are running write-in campaigns against him.
Kline faces federal charges of possessing child pornography and state charges of child molestation, stemming from alleged incidents the late 1970s. He has steadfastly denied the charges.
Investigators began looking at Kline after a computer hacker nicknamed Omnipotent purloined an electronic copy of a diary allegedly belonging to Kline and turned it over to a watchdog group called Predator-hunter.com. The diary contained references to sexual interest in teen-age boys.
While his name is the only one that will appear on Tuesday's ballot, the write-in candidates hope to garner enough support to derail his re-election.
"I just can't believe that Orange County voters would let anything else happen," said Gay Sandoval, one of the write-in candidates, in an interview Monday on CNN.
Twenty jurists sign election document
for Ronald Kline, facing child-porn case.
By JOHN McDONALD
The Orange County Register - December 7, 2001
Orange County Superior Court Judge Ronald Kline obtained the signatures of 20 fellow judges on his re-election petition during a courthouse "signing party" two weeks after he was charged with possession of child pornography.
The petition filed with the registrar of voters this week completes the requirements for Kline to run unopposed on the March 5 ballot for another six-year term.
He was charged in federal court Nov. 5 with possession of child pornography.
He pleaded not guilty to an indictment alleging that 100 images of child pornography were on his home computer.
Costa Mesa lawyer Gay Sandoval is attempting a write-in campaign against him. ....
Among those who signed the petition was Judge William Froeberg, husband of Assistant District Attorney Rosanne Froeberg, who heads the district attorney's sex-crimes unit and is supervising the local part of the Kline investigation.
Judge Froeberg declined to comment.
Rosanne Froeberg did not return phone calls.
Judge James Stotler also signed. He is married to U.S. District Judge Alice Marie Stotler, who was assigned Monday to be the trial judge in the Kline case. ....
University of Southern California Law Professor Erwin Chemerinsky, an ethics authority, said the fact that the prosecutor's husband signed the petition "looks funny, but I don't think it violates any law." ....
O.C. judge charged with child
molestation
By GREG HARDESTY
The Orange County Register - January 10, 2002
Alleged incidents occurred between 1976 and 1978.
IRVINE -- An Orange County Superior Court judge who was already facing federal charges of possessing child pornography was today arrested and charged with four counts of child molestation.
Ronald Kline, 61, was arrested at his Irvine home early this morning. He later posted $100,000 bail on state charges that he performed oral copulation on a minor between October 1976 and October 1978. The state filed four counts against Kline, who has been a judge since 1995.
The alleged molestation began when the victim, a neighborhood boy who Kline befriended, was 12 years old. If convicted on the state charges, Kline faces up to 14 years in prison. He will be arraigned on February 6 .
The state charges were filed after the alleged victim came forward after reading news accounts that Kline was facing federal child pornography charges. Kline was charged on Nov. 9 with six felony counts of possessing child pornography, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.
A 1999 state law allows police to charge people with sexual crimes dating back decades, if there is corroboration. The normal statute of limitations does not apply in this case. ....
Kline has indicated that he would run for re-election to the bench. But Gay Sandoval, a Costa Mesa lawyer and child advocate, has been organizing a write-in campaign to fill the post with a different person.
Judges sign petition for accused colleague
Judge charged with molesting boy 25 years
ago
By Eric Johnson
Irvine World News - January 15, 2002
http://www.irvineworldnews.com/Astories/jan17/judge.html
A Superior Court judge already accused of possessing child pornography was arrested last week for allegedly molesting a neighborhood boy 25 years ago.
Because of a recent change in state law, police were able to charge Turtle Rock resident Ronald C. Kline, 61, with four felony counts of lewd conduct with a child under the age of 14.
The new law exempts sex crimes from the normal statute of limitations, meaning victims of molestation can come forward at any time.
In this case, police allege that from 1976 to 1978 Kline had an improper relationship with a boy he befriended (in another area of Irvine that police are not disclosing).
The boy, now 37, filed a complaint with Irvine Police Jan. 5. His identity is being kept confidential.
Although the molestation charges only cover a two-year period ending in October 1978, Kline maintained a relationship with the boy for longer, according to police.
Kline surrendered himself to officers the morning of Jan. 10. He did not wear handcuffs.
The judge was already on house arrest, with a monitoring device, under federal charges that he had more than 100 computer images of young boys engaged in sex acts. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
In 1995, the alleged victim told his parents and then-fiancée that Kline had molested him, police said. He didn't want to go to police, though.
But he came forward in November after reading about the federal charges against Kline, who has handled civil cases since being appointed to the county bench in 1995.
In the child-pornography case, a computer hacker outside California tipped off authorities about Kline, sparking a four-month investigation.
Three conditions must be met for investigators to invoke the law that allows sex crime victims to come forward at any time.
First, the accusations have to be strongly corroborated - with such items as photos or documents.
Second, the alleged crimes have to be serious - improper touching, for example, isn't strong enough, lawyers said.
Third, the charges have to be filed within one year after the accusations are made.
District Attorney Tony Rackauckus said the new law is a significant tool.
"This is an example of what we can do with an extended statute of limitations," he said. "I don't think child molesters should feel safe with the amount of time that has gone by."
Rackauckus, who knew Kline from his time as a county judge, called Kline's arrest "unfortunate."
"It was somebody I felt I knew and had a friendship with," he said.
Paul S. Meyer, Kline's attorney, said his client is innocent.
"The historical charges filed against Judge Kline are from 26 years ago and involve one complaining person," Meyer said. "There are no allegations of any criminal conduct within the last 26 years."
The parents of the victim gave police a letter Kline sent to their son in 1982. In it, Kline allegedly requested that the boy, then 18, join him on a camping trip - that he and the boy "had been through so much over the years."
"I care about you," the letter read.
A diary Kline kept since 1998 alluded to his sexual attraction to young boys and had a reference to the victim.
The complaint also said that the victim's parents filed a report with Irvine Police in 1980, claiming that Kline was stalking their son and routinely driving through their neighborhood. On one occasion, they even spoke to Kline and confirmed that he knew their son.
The boy did not admit to being molested at the time and Irvine Police no longer have the 1980 police report. They typically only keep files on murder and rape cases past 1989, officials said.
Some of Kline's neighbors refused to talk about the second arrest last week.
If convicted of molestation, Kline could face up to 32 years in prison and would have to register as a sex offender.
He is due in court Jan. 22 on the federal pornography charges and Feb. 6 in the county molestation case.
Both cases will be handled in Los Angeles County courts to avoid a conflict of interest.
Before the latest arrest, 20 Superior Court judges signed a petition supporting Kline in his bid for re-election.
Meanwhile, a queue of candidates are stepping up to contest Kline's judgeship on the March ballot.
Gay Sandoval, a Costa Mesa attorney and longtime children's advocate, headed the charge to get on the ballot as a write-in candidate. Costa Mesa Councilwoman Karen Robinson will also be on the ballot.
Six others, including Irvine resident Harris E. Kershnar, requested paperwork to become write-in candidates and could also join the race. Would-be candidates have until Feb. 12 to qualify as write-ins.
Register staff writers Greg Hardesty and Martin Wisckol contributed to this report.
By Bill O'Reilly
Fox News - Friday, March 01, 2002
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,46887,00.html
The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day
Time now for "The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day." And this is in context to what we reported on earlier.
Judge Ronald Kline has been charged with trafficking in child pornography and child molestation and is awaiting trial. But and he's also awaiting an election. His name is the only one on the ballot in the Orange County Superior Court race in California because the indictment came after the filing. And Kline wants to retain his $136,000 job. So we have a situation similar to Gary Condit's. But let me say this. Voting for either Kline or Condit would be ridiculous.
— You can watch Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points and "Most Ridiculous Item" weeknights at 8 & 11p.m. ET on the Fox News Channel. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com
Accused Pedophile Judge Running Unopposed for
Reelection
New York Times - March 2, 2002
Judge Ronald Kline of California is running unopposed in a reelection bid despite the fact he has been busted on child pornography charges and is under house arrest.
He has a 50-50 chance of being elected because most people ignore judicial elections and only a write-in candidate could defeat him. However he could also spend 30 years in prison for crimes dating back to the 1970s.
Investigators say they found 100 pictures of child porn on disks, video and his computer hard drive. They also allege he kept an electronic diary where he wrote about fondling boys and got off on watching boys play baseball while he umpired games
Judge Kline pleads not guilty
to molestation charges
By Eric Johnson and Greg Hardesty
Irvine World News - March 21, 2002
http://www.irvineworldnews.com/Astories/mar21/kline.html
Turtle Rock resident and embattled jurist Ronald C. Kline pleaded not guilty in a Norwalk courtroom Tuesday to five counts of oral copulation with a minor.
The charges Kline, a Superior Court judge accused of molesting a neighborhood boy more than 20 years ago, faces are much less severe than those he was arrested for in January.
In initial interviews with police in January, the alleged victim, now 37, said Kline molested him when he was as young as 12. In follow-up interviews, the man said the alleged crimes occurred between June and October 1979, when he was 14.
Penalties are much harsher for molestation victims under 14 years.
Kline, who at the time of the alleged sex crimes was a top lawyer for an insurance defense practice, now faces a maximum of 5 years and 8 months if convicted - compared with about 14 years under the former charges.
"The allegation is untrue," Kline's attorney, Paul S. Meyer, said in a prepared statement. "The case is based on a very late complaint raised (23) years after events supposedly occurred.
"Because Judge Kline is not guilty of these state charges, he will focus his attention on the defense of this matter."
Last week, Meyer asked a judge to allow Kline to drop out of the race to keep his seat on the bench.
Kline faces a run-off in November, probably against Laguna Hills attorney John Adams, after 11 write-in candidates prevented him on March 5 from getting the necessary 50 percent plus one vote needed to retain his judgeship.
Meyer argued that continued scrutiny over the judicial race would unfairly affect Kline's court cases.
A Los Angeles judge will consider Kline's request at an April 2 hearing.
Kline also faces federal charges of possessing child pornography. Dozens of digital images of nude boys were found on his home and office computer by authorities. A trial on the pornography charges is set for June.
Kline is suspended from the bench, and confined to house arrest with a monitoring device, but still draws his $136,244 salary.
Prosecutors add detail to Kline molestation
case
Courts: State is trying to meet its burden of corroborating evidence that youth was abused by then-civil lawyer.
by Greg Hardesty
The Orange County Register - April 20, 2002
Prosecutors expanded on their state molestation case against Judge Ronald C. Kline on Friday, detailing their allegations of sexual abuse of a boy 23 years ago.
Although the prosecutors didn't add any charges to the five-felony complaint against Kline, they amended it to provide examples of what they believe is corroborating evidence.
Courts: Judge downloaded images of naked boys to his work computer as well as at home, prosecutors allege.
By John McDonald - The Orange County Register
The Orange County Register - April 11, 2002
Judge Ronald Kline used his courthouse computer to visit a pedophile Web site and download more than a dozen images of naked boys, federal prosecutors allege in court papers.
The filing in federal court Monday also contended that Kline's home computer contained as many as 1,500 erotic images of young boys. The Orange County Superior Court judge already has been charged with having more than 100 images of child pornography on his home computer.
High-profile cases due in court
this summer
Irvine World News - May 23, 2002
http://www.irvineworldnews.com/Astories/may23/crime.html
A number of high-profile cases involving Irvine suspects or victims are due to go to trial this summer.
Here's an update:
*Noel Plata and Ronald Tri Tran, accused of the grisly 1994 murder of Irvine resident Linda Park, are due in court May 31 in Santa Ana.
Defense attorneys will file a motion challenging evidence the prosecution brought forward in a November preliminary hearing.
Deputy District Attorney James Laird said the motion is routine.
No date has been set for a jury trial.
Plata and Tran are alleged to have tortured Park before slicing her throat after robbing her parents' home in Deerfield. Irvine Police arrested the pair in February 2001.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for both men, who allegedly have ties to a Vietnamese street gang.
*Brian Dance, a UC Irvine student accused of raping and torturing a high school student in December, is due back in court June 21 for a pre-trial hearing. The trial is set to start July 8 in Santa Ana.
Dance is accused of seven counts, including torture, terroristic threats and stealing more than $50 from the victim, as well as forced oral copulation and three counts of rape with a foreign object.
Dance, of Newport Beach, faces up to 94 years in prison if convicted of all counts against him. Police believe that in an Internet chat room, Dance set up a meeting with a 15-year-old girl at the Block of Orange before driving her to UCI, taping her hands with duct tape, carving a swastika in her face, torturing her for more than two hours, and raping her.
*Embattled Superior Court judge and Turtle Rock resident Ronald C. Kline will go before a Norwalk Superior Court judge June 4 to see whether sufficient corroborating evidence exists for Kline to face trial on charges that he molested a neighborhood boy 23 years ago.
Kline pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The judge, who police say has admitted to them his sexual attraction to young boys, has been under house arrest since November on separate federal charges of possession of child pornography.
The crimes of which Kline is accused occurred during four months in 1979, when he was a 38-year-old civil attorney and his accuser was 14, according to the complaint.
There is no statute of limitations on serious sex crimes against minors, if enough corroborating evidence exists.
Among the evidence detailed Friday was a letter Kline is alleged to have written to the boy, referred to as "John Doe."
In the letter, Kline refers to "swimming after midnight" and going in hot tubs with John Doe, scenarios he independently described to police.
Kline first met the boy at night at a community pool in Irvine while Kline was swimming nude, according to the amended complaint.
The oral-copulation crimes of which Kline is accused took place in the community hot tub and in Kline's home, according to the complaint.
Before one of the sex acts alleged in the complaint, Kline purchased alcohol and provided it to the minor, prosecutors charge.
Kline also wrote a get-well card to John Doe when the boy was 15, according to the complaint. The card made a humorous reference about how whiskey can make a person feel better.
"Hope you weren't hurt too bad," Kline is alleged to have written. "Come see me when you can. Ron."
Voters determined to oust Judge
Kline
By Eric Johnson
Irvine World News - March 3, 2002
http://www.irvineworldnews.com/Astories/mar7/judge.html
A campaign by 11 write-in candidates to oust a Superior Court judge accused of molesting a boy and possessing child pornography passed its first hurdle Tuesday.
The candidates, none of whose names appeared on the ballot, were able to garner two-thirds of all votes cast in the race for Ronald C. Kline's judgeship.
That means Kline, 61, faces a November runoff with the top vote-getter among the write-in candidates. He needed at least 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff.
How each write-in candidate fared won't be known for days, if not weeks.
Kline, a Turtle Rock resident, was arrested in January for allegedly molesting a neighborhood boy 25 years ago.
The judge was already on house arrest, with a monitoring device, under federal charges that he had more than 100 computer images of young boys engaged in sex acts. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
"I'm just so happy that Orange County voters really listened to the message," said the mother of a 13-year-old boy who Kline allegedly tried to woo. "If all the voters just go out and do the same thing again, he won't get reelected in the fall."
Kline has been restricted to his Irvine home since Nov. 9 after surrendering to authorities.
In addition to images of boys in sex acts found on his home computer and on his computer at the Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana, authorities found an electronic diary, they said, that describes lust for young boys.
In February, Kline was hit with charges that he molested a boy about 25 years ago when he was a prominent civil attorney.
Kline is scheduled to enter a plea to the molestation charges this month.
He is still drawing his $136,244 annual salary, but has been restricted from the bench.
The judge voted Tuesday morning at Bonita Canyon Elementary School. He wore a sweater, jeans and sneakers, and, as ordered by his house arrest, an electronic monitoring device around his ankle. He declined to comment.
Write-in campaigns historically have failed. And in Orange County, there has never been a write-in battle to oust an incumbent judge.
Harris Kershnar, one of the write-in candidates and a Woodbridge resident, thanked the voters for their historic decision.
"It shows the electorate was underestimated," he said. "I'm proud that we proved the pundits wrong."
Kershnar said he believes the media's scrutiny of Kline's arrest, and its coverage of the write-in campaign, was pivotal.
"I believe it was the media coverage that let the voters know how the process works," he said, calling the write-in process "unfamiliar and cumbersome."
"The numbers showed people wanted to make a choice," he said.
Kershnar said he'll back whichever of the candidates faces Kline in November. But he hopes it's him.
"The united goal was to get to this point," he said. "If we didn't reach this threshold, all was lost for everyone. I have every confidence that whoever (runs against Kline) will win."
Contact Johnson at (949) 224-0082 or ejohnson@ocregister.com
Register staff writers Greg Hardesty and Aldrin Brown contributed to this report
Judge facing pornography
charges - Computer disks seized from Turtle Rock
home
By Eric Johnson
Irvine World News - November 15, 2001
http://www.irvineworldnews.com/Astories/nov15/judge.html
An Orange County Superior Court judge from Irvine was arrested by federal marshals Friday for possessing child pornography.
Judge Ronald C. Kline, a resident of Turtle Rock, surrendered himself to authorities at the Santa Ana courthouse after investigators found a disk at Kline's home with digital images of minors engaged in sex.
Kline, 61, allegedly admitted to having "an interest in minor-age boys," according to an affidavit filed by Customs Agent Harry Pettibone.
Kline is due back in court Nov. 29 for a preliminary hearing, though the U.S. Attorney's office may seek an indictment before then. He is due to be arraigned Dec. 3.
Kline's attorney, Paul Meyer, said his client will plead not guilty.
According to court records, Kline allegedly admitted that he views images using his home computers to access the Internet and that some of the images have been "illegal."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Deirdre Eliot said more charges may be filed as detectives continue analyzing 116 computer diskettes seized Monday from Kline's home.
Federal Magistrate Judge Arthur Nakazato also placed Kline under house detention with electronic surveillance pending his next court appearance, except for routine trips and visits with his lawyer or for medical or mental health appointments.
Kline was ordered to stay away from children as well as schools, parks, playgrounds, arcades and other places where children might be present.
In his affidavit, Pettibone said a diary Kline kept contained references to body parts of minor-age boys: "It appears from the diary that the author watches and observes these minor-age boys at such places as shopping malls, little league baseball games, and the shower area of a local athletic club. In addition, the diary recounts the author's efforts to make contact with these minor-age boys."
Kline also admitted to Irvine Det. Ronald Carr that 40 years ago, when he was 21, he had sexual contact with a male who was 14 or 15 years old.
Detectives seized Kline's work and home computers and 116 diskettes after a four-month investigation that began with a tip from the state Attorney General's Office.
U.S. Attorney's office spokesman Thom Mrozek said federal, state and local investigators use tips and undercover operations to unmask those who collect and traffic child pornography.
"We have officers pose as young people on the Internet and sometimes people will try to meet up with them," he said. "Often times, we'll find child pornography on their computers."
They also look for suspicious people at the borders.
"A lot of it is generated offshore," he said.
Authorities contend that at least three of the images were copyrighted in Denmark and downloaded off the Internet to the diskettes found in Kline's home.
Pettibone said in court documents that computers and the Internet have made it exponentially easier for child pornography collectors to gather materials and interact with and sexually exploit children.
"Previously, child pornography collectors had to rely on personal contact, U.S. mail, and telephonic communications in order to sell, trade or market pornography," he said.
"The computer and the Internet changed that."
Police Chief Michael Berkow said there was no evidence that Kline was involved in any molestation.
First-time offenders can be fined or imprisoned up to five years. Kline could also be sanctioned or removed from the bench.
By Rachanee Srisavasdi
Irvine World News - July 3, 2003
http://www.irvineworldnews.com/Astories/july3/kline.html
Molestation charges against former Judge Ronald Kline, an Irvine resident, were to be dismissed Wednesday, July 2, the second Orange County case thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court's ban on the prosecution of old sex crimes.
Kline's attorney, Paul Meyer, said he will ask a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to drop the case. Orange County Deputy District Attorney Sheila Hanson said she won't object.
District Attorney Tony Rackauckas called it "distressing" that charges that Kline molested a 14-year-old boy in Irvine in 1979 have to be dismissed.
"A young boy at the time was victimized, and he carried it around with him for years before finding the courage to report it," Rackauckas said. The court "has erased his hopes for justice."
The high court nullified a 1994 California law that eliminated the statute of limitations on some sex crimes.
Rachanee Srisavasdi is a staff writer for the Orange County Register.
Case against ex-judge Kline gutted
By Rachanee Srisavasdi
Irvine World News - October 30, 2003
http://www.irvineworldnews.com/Astories/oct30/kline.htm
The last criminal case against embattled former Orange County Judge Ronald Kline collapsed Monday when a federal judge ruled that child-pornography evidence gathered from his courtroom computer was inadmissible.
U.S. District Court Judge Consuelo Marshall ruled that police never would have obtained digital photos of naked boys and links to child-pornography Web sites, found on Kline's courtroom computer, had it not been for the unlawful hacking by a Canadian man deemed a government agent.
The decision means that – barring a reversal – Kline, 63, cannot be prosecuted in federal court on seven counts of possession of child pornography, which carried a maximum penalty of 35 years in prison.
It was the third major legal victory for Kline, an Irvine resident.
About 1,500 pictures of naked boys and a diary gleaned from Kline's home computer were tossed out of the federal case in June because Marshall ruled that their seizure traced back to the Canadian hacker, Brad Willman.
And in July, Kline avoided prosecution in state court on five felony charges that he molested a 14-year-old boy in 1979, following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that invalidated prosecution of older sex-abuse cases. Kline, who had pleaded not guilty in that case, had faced five years and eight months in prison if convicted.
Kline, wearing a gray blazer, blue shirt and tie, sat next to his three attorneys Monday, listening intently.
Prosecutors had argued that material gathered from Kline's courtroom computer should be admissible, saying the computer was the property of Orange County Superior Court and subject to searches.
Kline's lead attorney, Paul Meyer, argued that law enforcement had conducted the search – not the court management – and that therefore the search was unconstitutional. He also said the search was unlawful because it stemmed from the initial illegal search by Willman, who Marshall ruled in June was acting on behalf of law enforcement when he unlawfully accessed Kline's home computer.
Marshall agreed, saying, "Once a court finds that the first search was illegal, then all subsequent searches and evidence found from those searches are also illegal."
She also said that while public employees should not expect privacy from employers, who can conduct searches at any time, law enforcement should go through another process.
Outside the courtroom, Kline declined to comment. Meyer said he was pleased by Marshall's decision, which he said "recognizes established law that states that law enforcement cannot profit from illegal conduct."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Staples said he was disappointed by the judge's ruling and that prosecutors intend to appeal it to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
Meanwhile, the case itself will remain on hold pending the appeals-court decision. Kline will remain in house detention until Meyer asks for it to be suspended.
Kline's case made headlines two years ago when the then-sitting judge was charged with possession of child pornography.
The charges stemmed from information received by Willman, who illegally hacked into Kline's home computer, then forwarded explicit diary entries to a pedophile watchdog group. The group, in turn, forwarded the information to Irvine police. News of the jurist's federal arrest prompted a man to come forward, saying that as a youth he was molested by Kline.
Willman, 24, said Monday that he was "very disappointed" with Marshall's ruling, saying Kline should be held criminally liable.
" In one way, he's won because he won't have to go to prison. But in another way, other people know about him now, and they can watch out for him," Willman said. "He's not as free as he used to be before all of this happened."
Federal court revives child porn case against former
judge in California
By: DAVID KRAVETS
Associated Press - October 4, 2004
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A federal appeals court revived child porn charges against a former California judge Monday, ruling that hundreds of images of naked children from his computers can be used at trial.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said the government can present evidence taken from former Orange County Superior Court Judge Ronald Kline's computers that a federal judge had ruled were illegally obtained by the Irvine Police Department.
Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for federal prosecutors in Los Angeles, where the case is being tried, said a trial date has been set for Jan. 18.
Last year, the federal judge threw out evidence allegedly found on Kline's home and court computers after ruling the images were seized, without a warrant, during an illegal search by a computer hacker.
Kline was charged with possessing child pornography after Canadian hacker Bradley Willman used a computer program to download diary entries and other images from Kline's computers. The hacked information was turned over to Pedowatch, a Colorado watchdog group, which notified Irvine police.
Last year, U.S. District Judge Consuelo Marshall said Willman was working as a government agent when he hacked Kline's computers, thus requiring a search warrant. But the 9th U.S. Circuit overturned the ruling, saying Irvine police had no advance knowledge that Willman was searching the computers, so no warrant was needed.
Kline, 63, has pleaded innocent to the charges.
Paul Meyer, Kline's attorney, said he may ask the San Francisco-based appeals court to reconsider, or petition the U.S. Supreme Court.
After Kline's 2001 arrest, he dropped a bid for re-election and is no longer a judge
Kid Porn Case Vs. Calif. Ex-Judge
Revived
By DAVID KRAVETS
The Associated Press - October 4, 2004
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/1-10042004-377083.html
SAN FRANCISCO - A federal appeals court revived child porn charges against a former California judge Monday, ruling Monday that hundreds of images of naked children from his computers can be used at trial.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said the government can present evidence taken from former Orange County Superior Court Judge Ronald Kline's computers that a federal judge had ruled were illegally obtained by the Irvine Police Department.
Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for federal prosecutors in Los Angeles, where the case is being tried, said a trial date has been set for Jan. 18.
Last year, the federal judge threw out evidence allegedly found on Kline's home and court computers after ruling the images were seized, without a warrant, during an illegal search by a computer hacker.
Kline was charged with possessing child pornography after Canadian hacker Bradley Willman used a computer program to download diary entries and other images on Kline's computers. The hacked information was turned over to Pedowatch, a Colorado watchdog group, which notified Irvine police.
Last year, U.S. District Judge Consuelo Marshall said Willman was working as a government agent when he hacked Kline's computer, thus requiring a search warrant. But the 9th U.S. Circuit overturned the ruling, saying Irvine police had no advance knowledge that Willman was searching Kline's computer, so no warrant was needed.
Kline, 63, has pleaded innocent to the charges.
Paul Meyer, Kline's attorney, said he may ask the San Francisco-based appeals court to reconsider, or petition the U.S. Supreme Court.
After Kline's 2001 arrest, he dropped a bid for re-election and is no longer a judge.
Porn case against ex-judge
revived
By JOHN McDONALD
The Orange County Register - October 4, 2004
http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2004/10/04/sections/breaking_news/article_263625.php
Federal appellate panel says judge erred in barring photos of nude boys found by a Canadian hacker on the computer of former O.C. jurist Ronald Kline.
MULTIMEDIA
Former Orange County Superior Court Judge Ronald Kline must return to federal court to stand trial on child-pornography charges, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today.
The decision reverses U.S. District Judge Consuelo Marshall's ruling in June 2003 that Brad Willman, 23, of Langley, British Columbia, was acting as a law enforcement agent when he hacked into Kline's home computer and found some of the evidence used to bring charges against the then-sitting judge.
Kline, 63, is scheduled for trial in January.
Marshall had ruled that the seizure of about 1,500 pictures of nude boys was unconstitutional because of the actions of Willman, and she suppressed the evidence. Her ruling that Willman was a police agent resulted in a hiatus in the prosecution of the ex-jurist on seven child-pornography charges.
"A private person cannot act unilaterally as an agent or instrument of the state; there must be some degree of governmental knowledge and acquiescence. In the absence of such official involvement, a search is not governmental," the three-judge appellate panel said.
Kline was charged in November 2001 and was subsequently defeated for re-election by a write-in candidate. He was later charged in state court with molesting a 14-year-old boy in 1979. That case was dismissed when the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a California law permitting the prosecution of old sex-crime cases.
The former judge has remained on home confinement since the child pornography charges were filed.
(714) 796-6743 or jmcdonald@ocregister.com
Court revives porn case against
judge
CNN - Tuesday, October 5, 2004
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/10/05/porn.charge.ap/index.html
SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- A federal appeals court has revived child porn charges against a former California judge, ruling that hundreds of images of naked children from his computers can be used at trial.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said Monday the government can present evidence taken from former Orange County Superior Court Judge Ronald Kline's computers that a federal judge had ruled were illegally obtained by the Irvine Police Department.
Ruling reversal says child porn on judge's computers found legally.
By JOHN McDONALD and RACHANEE SRISAVASDI
The Orange County Register - October 5, 2004
Former Orange County Superior Court Judge Ronald Kline must return to federal court to stand trial on child-pornography possession charges, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday.
The decision reverses a judge's decision last year that halted the prosecution on grounds that Kline's computers were searched illegally.
Now the case, which was in pretrial hearings, can be picked up where it left off. Kline, 63, is scheduled to go to trial Jan. 18.
U.S. District Court Judge Consuelo Marshall last year threw out photos and diaries gathered from Kline's home computer by a Canadian computer hacker. She ruled that his search of Kline's home computer was illegal because he was acting as an agent of the police, and no search warrant had been obtained.
In May 2000, Brad Willman of Langley, British Columbia, downloaded the diaries and 1,500 pictures of nude boys from Kline's computer. He later provided that evidence to Irvine police detectives.
Investigators then found evidence of child pornography on Kline's computer in his judicial chambers in Santa Ana.
But Marshall also threw out the photos and links to child pornography Web sites from the work computer, ruling that was all the product of the tainted search of his home computer.
The appeals court disagreed, upholding the first search by Willman, who they said was not acting, at least initially, at the behest of law enforcement.
"The date of that (May 2000) search was well before any contact with the IPD," the three-judge panel said in its ruling, referring to the police. "All of Willman's post-search contact with the IPD and later cooperation between the IPD and other law enforcement agencies in the United States and Canada are .... irrelevant" to his status at the time of the first search.
Kline remains on home confinement in Irvine. He wears an ankle bracelet that is hooked to a Global Positioning System, which gives authorities the ability to monitor him at any time, said U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Thom Mrozek.
Kline's outings are restricted to court-ordered visits, meetings with his attorney, court obligations and medical visits. He cannot have contact with anyone under 18 except in the presence of a parent and cannot be within 100 feet of any schoolyard playground.
He also is not allowed to have a computer or Internet access, Mrozek said.
Paul Meyer, Kline's defense lawyer, declined to discuss his client.
Meyer said he is reviewing the opinion.
"A number of options are available and we are assessing them," he said.
The options include asking for a rehearing by the same three-judge panel that made the ruling, asking that the decision be set aside and reviewed by an 11-member panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit court of Appeals, or the U.S. Supreme Court could be asked to hear an appeal.
Willman, in a phone interview, said he was pleased with the ruling.
"That's huge," he said. "That's really good. At least something came out of what I had done.
"I never was an agent for law enforcement, I'm glad (the judges) believed what I said."
Willman has said he had hacked into at least 2,000 computers of people worldwide who collect child pornography and forwarded the files he collected on suspected child pornographers to sex-offenderwatchdog groups under different pseudonyms.
He first became known to Irvine police as "Citizen Tipster" after he anonymously forwarded excerpts of Kline's diary to a pedophile-watchdog Web site.
He said in a deposition, under questioning by Meyer, that he had been involved in law-enforcement investigations in the United States, Russia and Canada.
He later recanted the statement, saying he had felt press ured by Meyer.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Deirdre Eliot, the prosecutor in the case, declined comment Monday.
Kline was charged in November 2001 and subsequently withdrew from his race for re-election after being confronted by a half-dozen write-in candidates. He was later charged in state court with molesting a 14-year old boy in 1979. That case was dismissed when the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a California law permitting the prosecution of old sex-crime cases.
CONTACT US: (714) 796-6743 or jmcdonald@ocregister.com
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