US presenter hacked into rival's emails
Updated on 25 November 2008
A US TV news presenter who obsessively hacked into the email of a younger rival and leaked gossip about her to the press has escaped jail.
Larry Mendte, 51, admitted hacking into 36-year-old Alycia Lane's email hundreds of times, both before and after the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, station where she worked, sacked her in January.
Judge Mary McLaughlin, sitting at the US district court in Philadelphia, sentenced the former Access Hollywood presenter to three years probation, which includes six months of home confinement and 250 hours of community service. He was also fined £3,330.
"I made my job too important," Mendte, who pleaded guilty in August, told the court.
"In believing that I was protecting the wellbeing of my children and my family, I put them both in jeopardy."
He also apologised to Emmy award-winning Miss Lane, who was in court for the sentencing. She gave a confidential victim-impact statement but declined to speak to reporters after the hearing.
During the case, Mendte was said to be jealous of Miss Lane's £520,000-a-year salary - £53,000 more than he was paid for their evening news bulletin.
Several of her personal emails appeared in the US media in recent years, including a message about a sexy bikini shot of herself she sent to a married former colleague.
The man's wife intercepted the email, her reply was published in the New York gossip columns, and Miss Lane was dubbed "anchorbabe".
Following his plea, Mendte described his early relationship with Miss Lane as "flirtatious, unprofessional and improper" but said it soured after his wife, Dawn Stensland, learned about it.
The twice-divorced Miss Lane vehemently denies any impropriety and has sued him for invasion of privacy and other grounds.
"My role at the station was still being diminished when Alycia told me during an argument on the set that she was the rising star and that I was '50 and on my way out'," Mendte said in August.
"I felt I was in trouble. My career, my future, my family's future was in trouble. And, this is where I got into more trouble, federal trouble."
© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.
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