Child sex Disney exec ‘admitted offence’

The jury in a US paedophile sex trial has heard how a former Infoseek executive flew to Los Angeles on business before dashing off to meet what he thought was a 13-year-old girl.

Patrick Naughton, 34, was a top executive at Infoseek and the man in charge of Disney's websites before he was sacked over the affair. He was apprehended by FBI agents in September after they used a well-worked sting to catch Naughton.

An FBI agent posing as a teenage girl engaged Naughton in an online relationship which resulted in his arrest. The executive didn't even check into his hotel first, said one witness yesterday. Instead, he went almost straight from the airport to a pier at Santa Monica where he intended to meet the "girl".

The prosecution alleges Naughton struck up the relationship using chat rooms and email. He is charged with crossing state lines in search of sex with a minor.

Yesterday Infoseek CEO Harry Motro took the stand and told the jury that Naughton had called him immediately after the arrest. According to Reuters Motro claimed Naughton admitted to the offence. Motro then sacked him on the spot. The case continues.

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