Suspension For Chat Room Conversation

An attorney who was admitted to practice in 2007 was suspended indefinitely with the right to seek reinstatement after one year as a result of a felony conviction for criminal solicitation of a minor over the internet. The offense will be reduced to a misdemeanor if he successfuly completes probation in the criminal case.

The Minnesota Supreme Court did not adopt a six-month suspension recommendation of a referee. The court found that the attorney had not established the elements of mitigation based on a psychological disorder.

The attorney had entered a chat room and engaged in a sexually-explicit conversation with a police officer posing as a 14 year old female. At the disciplinary hearing, he testified that he was a victim of two incidents of sexual abuse as a child and had participated in individual and group therapy through a religious organization. (Mike Frisch)