Child porn suspect takes plea deal; 60 charges lifted

Kim Smith

Thursday, March 2, 2000 | 11:29 a.m.

A 44-year-old casino worker arrested on 57 possession of child pornography charges and nine other charges has entered a plea agreement that will dismiss 60 of the charges.

Defense attorney Chip Siegel said Frederick Allen Osburn agreed Wednesday to plead guilty to one count of open and gross lewdness, one count of possession of burglary tools and four counts of possession of child pornography.

The plea agreement calls for Osburn to get a prison sentence of between four and 10 years. However, if District Judge Mark Gibbons opts to give him more time, Osburn can back out of the deal, Siegel said.

Two of the counts that are being dismissed -- using a minor in the production of pornography -- called for mandatory life sentences.

Osburn was arrested in September 1997 after police, who were looking for a serial rapist, reportedly saw him prowling around residential neighborhoods.

In addition to the child pornography and production counts, Osburn was charged with attempted burglary and possession of burglary tools.

Deputy District Attorney Doug Herndon said even if Osburn had been convicted of all 57 counts of the possession of child pornography, the sentences would have been served concurrently.

The four charges Osburn pleaded guilty to represent four large binders that were pasted with cut out photos of lone nude children taken in a "nudist-camp type setting," Herndon said. The photos were not the sort typically found on the Internet. Gibbons is scheduled to sentence Osburn May 1.