Child pornographer is "gentle, sweet," won't fit in at prison, lawyer argues

(CBS/AP) SACRAMENTO, Calif. - George Bronk, who's accused of violating the online privacy of women by making their intimate photos public, was portrayed Thursday by his lawyer as a naive, bored young person who had a drinking problem and didn't recognize the public embarrassment he was causing.

Bronk, 23, pleaded guilty in January to charges including computer intrusion, false impersonation and possession of child pornography. His lawyer, Monica Lynch, said Bronk should get probation. "He is gentle, and he is sweet, and I do not see him fitting into the mainstream prison population," Lynch told The Associated Press outside court.

The state attorney general's office wants him to serve six years in prison. A probation officer is recommending four years behind bars.

Lynch said Bronk was immature, unemployed and killing time while he cared for his ailing parents and made a hobby of trolling women's Facebook pages, looking for their e-mails and gleaning enough personal information to answer basic Internet security questions.

He would then search for nude or seminude photos and videos the women had sent to their husbands or boyfriends, and distribute the images to the contact lists of the women, authorities said.

Prosecutors contend Bronk was stalking the women. He changed their e-mail passwords to take control of their accounts, taunted some of the women in online exchanges, and coerced at least one woman into sending him more explicit photographs by threatening to distribute the pictures he already had, authorities said.

Investigators said they found 172 e-mail files with explicit photographs on Bronk's computer, and tracked his victims to England, Washington, D.C., and 17 states.

Lynch said her client, who lived in the Sacramento suburb of Citrus Heights, didn't realize the damage he had done. She argued the victims made themselves vulnerable by taking the nude and seminude photos and videos of themselves.

Prosecutors said they will make their case for prison at Bronk's sentencing hearing. He has been jailed on $500,000 bond since his arrest in October. He will have to register as a sex offender.

A judge delayed Bronk's sentencing until sometime after a hearing on May 2, when Bronk's family members plan to testify. State corrections officials will then evaluate him for 90 days to recommend if he should go to prison.