Jul 17, 2008 1:30 pm US/Pacific
Accused SF Computer Hacker Seeks Bail Reduction
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / BCN) ―
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Accused hacker Terry Childs appears with his attorney in a San Francisco courtroom.
CBS
A city employee charged with hijacking San Francisco's technology system pleaded not guilty Thursday to four felony counts of computer network tampering, and his new lawyer asked a judge to reduce the man's bail down from $5 million.
Attorney Erin Crane was appointed Thursday in San Francisco Superior Court to defend Terry Childs, 43, of Pittsburg, a network engineer employed with San Francisco's Department of Telecommunications and Information Services.
Childs, who remained in custody, also pleaded not guilty to one count of causing losses of more than $200,000, resulting from the computer tampering.
Childs was granted a bail reduction hearing for next Wednesday.
Prosecutors have accused Childs of manipulating the city's FiberWAN network system, denying service to authorized users and setting up devices that would allow unauthorized access to the system.
District Attorney Kamala Harris said that the network contains information relating to the city's 311 customer service center system, the city e-mail system and the city server, including "potentially" confidential private information.
Childs is believed to have altered the system between June 20 and July 10, according to Harris.
If convicted, Childs could face up to seven years in state prison, Harris said.
Childs' previous attorney, public defender Mark Jacobs was relieved from the case after his office declared a conflict in the case.
Crane said outside the courtroom Thursday that Childs, who reportedly set up his own passwords on the system, is "willing to cooperate fully" with prosecutors on that issue.
"We're in the process of negotiating a turnover" of the passwords, Crane said.
Childs had another supporter in court Thursday, a former DTIS official who said he worked with Childs and could not believe he would be capable of the crimes alleged.
"I don't believe it's in Terry's character to do such a thing," said Dana Hom, who identified himself as a former DTIS chief operations officer from 2000 to 2004.
Hom called the charges against Childs "trumped-up," though he acknowledged that had no specific information about the current case, other than what he had read in media accounts.
Hom said Childs worked in Hom's division, but not directly under him.
"I know him. I worked closely with Terry," Hom said. Hom characterized Childs as "very gentle," "very low-key," and "extremely competent."
"This is an absolute travesty of justice, because Terry should not be behind bars," Hom said.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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