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A Disney Infoseek executive has been arrested

According to Reuters, Patrick Naughton, 34, of Seattle, Washington,executive vice president of products at Infoseek Corp., the Internet mediasite which is part of Disney's Go Network, was arrested on Thursday,September 16, 1999 on the Santa Monica Pier, an amusement park area in WestLos Angeles. The arrest came after he met a female FBI agent who hadarranged to meet him there, according to Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for theU.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles. He is charged with interstate travelwith the intention of having sex with a minor. Naughton was arraigned onFriday, September 17, and released after posting a $100,000 bond.Ironically, Norton's arrest came just days after Disney launched a warningabout children talking to strangers on the Internet on its British, Frenchand German websites. On March 8, 1999, Naughton is alleged to have startedposting lewd messages under the screen name "HotSeattle" in an Internetchat room to a male FBI agent who was posing as a 13-year-old-girl. It wasthis girl that Naughton expected to meet at the Santa Monica Pier. Naughtonis a Disney veteran who was formerly with its Starwave Web developmentoperations. Sources say Infoseek fired Naughton immediately after hisarrest. Disney is in the process of combining its diverse Internet holdingsunder a single company known as Go.com, which will include the DisneyStore, ESPN.com and ABCNews.com with Infoseek's Web search engine and otherInternet functions. Disney Online is the No. 1 most visited site among kidsand their families on the Internet, according to July statistics from Webmarket research firm Media Metrix. Naughton's arrest comes as part of wideranging undercover sting operation investigating the Internet by a southernCalifornia task force known as Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE).

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