Child Sex Tourist and
Pornographer Sentenced
to 15 Years
By Paul Thissen
A 61-year-old Orinda
(California) real estate
executive and former St.
Mary's College professor
was sentenced Friday to
15 years in prison for
producing child
pornography in a case
stemming from his
travels to Costa Rica to
have sex with a
12-year-old girl.
Leonard Auerbach was
sentenced under a plea
agreement he made in
August, according to a
news release from the
U.S. Department of
Justice.
Auerbach was also
ordered to pay a
$200,000 fine and
forfeit an additional
$270,000 from the sale
of a Costa Rican beach
house where he committed
the crimes. In addition,
he must pay $178,000 in
restitution: $78,000 to
the girl and $100,000 to
the National Center for
Missing and Exploited
Children.
Auerbach pleaded guilty
to the charges in
August.
In April, Auerbach fled
the country after
charges were filed.
After being named a
"most wanted" fugitive
by U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, he
was arrested in Cuba by
local authorities in May
and extradited back to
the United States in
June. Cuba and the
United States do not
have an extradition
treaty; Cuba expelled
him because of the
"grave" nature of his
crimes, according to
U.S. immigration
officials.
From 2003 to 2007,
Auerbach traveled about
40 times to a house he
owned in Costa Rica.
Images found at his
Orinda home in August
2007 included child
pornography taken in
Costa Rica in 2004, when
the girl in the images
was 12, according to the
indictment and an ICE
news release.
Auerbach also referred
to her as his
"girlfriend," admitted
her age and said in a
secretly recorded
conversation in July
2007 that he had sex
with her, according to
immigration officials.
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