DragonCon Co-Founder Charged With Child Molestation Avoids Further Prison Time With Plea Deal

DragonCon co-founder Ed Kramer will not be going to prison on the six counts of child molestation for which he was arrested in August 2000. Instead, he'll serve 34 months under house arrest, pay a $100,000 fine to each of the three victims involved, and be forbidden from interacting with anyone younger than the age of 16.

Those are the terms of a plea agreement Kramer's attorneys and Gwinnett County, Ga., District Attorney Danny Porter have hammered out. Kramer pleaded guilty to three of the counts; prosecutors aren't pursuing the other three.

If Kramer had taken the case to trial and been convicted, each charge would have carried a 25-year minimum sentence.

Kramer won't go to prison because of the various medical conditions he and his attorneys have claimed over the years. His actual sentence was for five years, but previous time served in Connecticut and the Gwinnett County Jail will count toward it.

Kramer's trial has been delayed for almost a decade because of motions and complaints Kramer and his attorneys have put forth concerning his health and religious objections to the trial's timing. He was arrested after two teenage boys came forward claiming inappropriate contact. Another victim came forward in 2003.

The trial kicked back into gear in 2009 after Kramer was allegedly spotted spotted in a Milford, Conn., hotel room with a 14-year-old boy.

Last week, DragonCon announced it had officially cut all ties with Kramer. The con's organizers had been trying to buy Kramer's ownership stake for years, ever since the initial allegations came to light, but Kramer continually refused. His connection to the con was a lucrative one, earning him annual dividends.

In August, DragonCon sued Kramer to essentially force him to accept a buyout offer. An out-of-court settlement has resolved the dispute and Kramer's ownership stake is officially now owned by DragonCon Inc.

[Via Gwinnett Daily Post and Robot6]