Ex-county worker to plead guilty

Wednesday, March 10, 2004 | 9:46 a.m.

The Clark County employee charged with downloading hundreds of images of child pornography on his work computer said Tuesday that he would plead guilty to two felony charges as the result of a plea deal.

Carl Lobsien, 50, waived his right to a preliminary hearing in Las Vegas Justice Court. He said he would take the case directly to District Court, where he intends to plead guilty to two counts of possession of photos depicting sexual conduct of a person under 16.

Prosecutors agreed to dismiss an additional 23 counts of the same charge. Lobsien will face a sentence of one to six years in prison on each felony count.

Authorities say Lobsien, an engineering technician at the county Public Works Department, downloaded so many images of child pornography that the downloads caused the county's Internet system to crash in August.

The county fired Lobsien when he was arrested.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Jim Sweetin said Lobsien had downloaded at least 300 to 400 images.

Lobsien's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Christy Craig, declined to comment on the case.

Lobsien is expected to enter his guilty plea when he is arraigned on March 24 before District Judge Kathy Hardcastle.