A former San Francisco Human Rights Commission employee pleaded guilty today to felony possession of child pornography.
Larry Brinkin, 67, agreed this morning to a plea deal with San Francisco prosecutors, who dropped a second charge of distributing child pornography.
Under the terms of the agreement, Brinkin will serve six months in county jail, six months of home detention and four years’ probation.
He remains out of custody after posting $240,000 bail and will return to court for sentencing on March 5.
Brinkin, who has been a local LGBT advocate, was arrested in September 2012 and was linked to images and video that originated in Australia, according to District Attorney George Gascon, who said then that the material was “very disturbing.”
Brinkin retired from the Human Rights Commission in 2010 after 22 years of service, and the city’s Board of Supervisors passed a resolution that year proclaiming Dec. 1-7, 2010, “Larry Brinkin Week” in San Francisco because of his work on LGBT issues.
Brinkin’s defense attorney Randall Knox said today that his client is “genuinely remorseful” and “has a much greater understanding of the damage child pornography creates.”
Knox said Brinkin is “a wonderful, kind, gentle human being who made a terrible mistake.”
In addition to serving jail time and probation, Brinkin will also have to register as a sexual offender for life and undergo therapy, Knox said.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
