Those hypocrites at it again...and of course on a much LOWER level
Fund-raiser for GOP pleads guilty in case of
child pornography
Delgaudio took pictures of a 16-year-old girl
By Allison Klein
Sun Staff
Originally published April 24, 2003
A prominent Republican fund-raiser who once said former President Bill
Clinton was "a lawbreaker and a terrible example to our nation's young
people" pleaded guilty yesterday in Baltimore Circuit Court to production
of child pornography.
Richard Anthony Delgaudio, who was sentenced to two years' probation
before judgment, admitted to taking lewd photographs of a 16-year-old
girl he met in East Baltimore's Patterson Park in 2001. In some of the
photos, he was engaged in sex with her, court records show.
Delgaudio, 50, of Burke, Va., is a frequent talk-radio guest and national
figure in conservative politics. He is president of the Legal Affairs Council,
a group that helped pay the legal bills of former Reagan administration
officials Oliver L. North and Caspar W. Weinberger after they were
charged in connection with the Iran-contra affair.
In his pornography case, there was additional evidence that Delgaudio
took erotic images of at least one other, younger teen-ager, but that
evidence was not admissible in court because police improperly stopped
and searched Delgaudio, a judge ruled.
Largely because of that, prosecutor Adam C. Rosenberg offered
Delgaudio a plea agreement, rather than taking the case to a jury.
"This is a satisfying outcome because it ends a lot of legal issues,"
Rosenberg said.
In yesterday's ruling, Judge John M. Glynn ordered Delgaudio to stay
away from Patterson Park and the neighboring Butchers Hill area. The
judge also publicly acknowledged Delgaudio's humiliation.
"Mr. Delgaudio has been very active in the state of Virginia and around
the country. He was a respected member of the community," Glynn said.
"This type of thing is a mortifying experience."
Delgaudio thanked the judge for his "good work." He is not able to appeal
because of the conditions of the plea agreement.
After the hearing, Delgaudio - who is also an author of political books -
refused to comment about his case.
In a letter to the judge, Delgaudio's attorneys - Bruce Fein and Howard
L. Cardin - wrote that he was remorseful and did not know the girls were
underage.
"He acknowledges the acute moral shortcomings of his conduct, and he
will continue intense self-examination and professional and spiritual
counseling," the lawyers wrote in the letter, dated yesterday.
Cardin also said he did not want to speak about the case after yesterday's
hearing but described his client as "brilliant and eloquent."
Delgaudio, who has no prior record, was arrested in November 2001
with a book of obscene photographs he had taken of 15- and
16-year-old girls, according to court documents. The teen-agers went
with him on several occasions to a hotel on Pulaski Highway, where they
had sex and he paid them to pose in erotic positions for his camera,
records show. The girls told Delgaudio their ages, according to police.
As part of his restitution to the community, his attorney said Delgaudio
would contribute $5,000 to "young mothers who are in distress and in
need."
Copyright © 2003, The Baltimore Sun
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