(Bloomberg) -- One-time startup leader Brian Wong pleaded guilty to criminal charges that he assaulted a woman during the 2016 South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.
With a jury trial looming in September, state prosecutors reduced the offense to indecent assault from attempted sexual assault, making it a misdemeanor instead of a felony charge, and Wong changed his plea to guilty from not guilty, according to records in Austin district court.
“The felony sexual assault case against Mr. Wong has been dismissed,” his lawyer, Sam Bassett, said in a statement. “Mr. Wong agreed to a deferred misdemeanor agreement which will ultimately result in the full dismissal of all charges.”
Wong will be on probation for two years and will able to avoid a conviction on his record if he remains on good behavior, according to the terms of the plea agreement. He must also undergo counseling and is prohibited from any contact with his victim or her family.
A grand jury had indicted Wong in 2019 after the woman claimed that Wong assaulted her three years earlier while she was a college student.
Wong gained recognition as one of the youngest entrepreneurs to launch a startup and win venture capital backing. He co-founded Kiip, a mobile advertising network, in 2010 at the age of 19. Over the years, Kiip had raised more than $30 million from investors. He also published a self-help book, The Cheat Code, in 2016.
--With assistance from Madlin Mekelburg and Ryan Autullo.
(Adds lawyer statement in the third paragraph. An earlier version of this story corrected Wong's plea in the second paragraph.)
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