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To settle suit, Larry Mendte apologizes for ruining Alycia Lane's life

A consent decree that formally ends the lawsuit that former CBS3 anchor Alycia Lane filed against the station includes a lengthy apology from former coanchor Larry Mendte, who hacked her email and fed personal details and photos to gossip columnists.

Alycia Lane and Larry Mendte.
Alycia Lane and Larry Mendte.Read more

A consent decree that formally ends the lawsuit that former CBS3 anchor Alycia Lane filed against the station includes a lengthy apology from former coanchor Larry Mendte, who hacked her email and fed personal details and photos to gossip columnists.

"I deeply regret my actions with respect to Alycia Lane and the harm that I caused her," Mendte wrote in a statement included in court filings. "I repeatedly and illegally invaded her personal email accounts, obtained personal information and fed stories to the press to make it appear as if she was carrying on inappropriate relationships with men, which was untrue and unfair.

"In the end, I harmed her career and I clearly caused her undue and considerable emotional distress. I am deeply sorry for that. Alycia is an accomplished journalist. I wish her and her family the best in the future."

In October, the court said the parties were finalizing an out-of-court settlement to conclude eight years of litigation. That settlement was reached, the terms to remain confidential, according to court documents. Lane was represented by attorney Paul R. Rosen.

On Thursday, Common Pleas Court Judge Frederica Massiah-Jackson issued a related order that permanently bars Mendte from making any comments about Lane on any subject in any public or private forum; releasing any information about her that he saw or obtained during his time with CBS; and releasing any documents from the court case to anyone without the court's approval.

Lane sued CBS Broadcasting, KYW-TV, Mendte, and others in 2008, alleging that CBS failed to stop him from snooping on her, an offense to which he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to house arrest and probation. Mendte was accused in the civil suit of invasion of privacy and other related violations.

The two shared anchor duties at CBS3 during the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts until December 2007, when Lane was arrested after allegedly hitting a woman who turned out to be an undercover New York City police officer.

CBS3 fired Lane in January 2008. The charges were dismissed and the case expunged. Mendte was fired by CBS3 in June of that year, after FBI agents searched his Chestnut Hill home and computer files, and he was eventually charged with hacking Lane's emails.

The case effectively ruined the career of Mendte, who at the time was believed to be the second-highest-paid male anchor in Philadelphia, behind Jim Gardner of ABC. Lane went on to become a morning anchor on the NBC station in Los Angeles. The station let her go in 2013.

jgammage@phillynews.com

215-854-4906

@JeffGammage