Ex-Prosecutor Pleads Guilty to Child Porn

A former deputy state attorney general pleaded guilty Thursday to possessing child pornography and was sentenced to 90 days in jail.

David Bornstein, 54, will also spend three years on formal supervised probation, must submit a DNA sample to a national database of offenders and will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, authorities said.

“I’m very pleased with today’s resolution,” said Paul Chrisopoulos, the Orange County deputy district attorney who prosecuted the case at West Justice Center in Westminster.

“It sends a clear message that regardless of your position or employment or what kind of career you have, we treat this matter very seriously.”

Bornstein’s attorney, Mark Werksman, said Thursday’s outcome was a “sad day” for his client, whose life had otherwise been characterized by public service and good works.

“This case was very upsetting,” Werksman said, “and he resolved it in the most professional and appropriate manner.

“This is a guy who’s had an unblemished record throughout his life, and this one sad episode is an unhappy blight on that record.

“But he’s a good person who did the right thing by settling the case, and now he’s going to put it behind him and get on with his life.”

Bornstein was relieved of his duties as a Los Angeles prosecutor specializing in tax cases after authorities found more than 30,000 images and 800 video segments containing child pornography on two personal computers at his Cypress home in March 2004.

“This is a huge quantity of child porn,” Chrisopoulos said at the time.

“The sheer quantity is one of the largest I’ve heard of in Orange County.”

Bornstein came to the attention of authorities, the prosecutor said, when his name appeared on the client list of a Florida company handling electronic billing services for child porn sites in Eastern Europe and Russia.

He has been ordered to report to Orange County Jail on June 30, Chrisopoulos said.