Pantagraph.com Weather forecast, local radar and more
NewsTuesday, September 11, 2007 2:50 PM CDT
Comments Comments (20) | E-mail this page E-mail this page | Print this page Print this page | Enlarge type Enlarge type | Reduce type Reduce type | Search archives Search archives | RSS RSS feeds | Add to My Yahoo! Add to My Yahoo!
Lawyer found naked with girl in courtroom gets prison
By Associated Press
Advertisement

PHILADELPHIA -- A defense attorney who was found naked with a 14-year-old girl in a courthouse pleaded no contest Monday to charges of sexually assaulting her and five other girls.

Larry Charles, 50, entered the pleas the same day his trial had been scheduled to begin. Charles' bail was revoked and he was sent to prison, pending his sentencing on Dec. 20. Prosecutors said they plan to recommend a sentence of 25 to 50 years in prison.

Authorities have said a sheriff's deputy making his rounds in the courthouse on Jan. 15, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, looked into a lawyers' lounge and discovered Charles and the girl. Charles often worked in the courthouse as a criminal defense attorney.

After his arrest, five other girls, now ages 11 to 17, came forward and said Charles assaulted them. Some of the girls testified they were assaulted multiple times from 2000 until Charles was arrested.

Charles was charged with counts of rape, sexual assault, corruption of a minor and other charges. He pleaded no contest to all counts.

Three of the six girls are sisters, one girl was a cousin of theirs, and the two other girls are sisters, prosecutor James Carpenter said.

``The defendant befriended their families and started gradually conditioning them to be molested'' and eventually escalating to rape, Carpenter said.

An attempt to reach Charles' lawyer, Angelo L. Cameron, for comment was not successful.

Video
Most commented stories
Browse online archives
Recent issues:
Reader comments on this story - 20 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

YadaYada wrote on Sep 12, 2007 12:04 PM:

" I think the saddest comment I read about this saddest of saddest stories is the comment stating that he (Larry Charles) being a lawyer should be held to the highest (standards of the) courts. What??!! Hold a lawyer to the highest standards? "

Fyi wrote on Sep 12, 2007 11:16 AM:

" You'd think he killed them by the sentence request. I'm not saying to go lighter on guys like this, but I think they should go even harder on the killers. Doesn't sound like he was forcing the 1 that he probably actually had relations, and not for a second, do I believe the other 2. I bet there's some parenting problems at the heart of this whole matter. "

comment wrote on Sep 12, 2007 7:36 AM:

" If he had had his clothes on they probably would have said the girls were making it up. Today even the lawyers are going down the tube. "

Penny wrote on Sep 12, 2007 6:01 AM:

" Lawyers molesting? Judges with penis pumps? Geez....lawyers make so much money, they turn down work on a whim! Who of us hard-working Americans can do that? Turning down work must inflate their egos, and they fall into the mindest that they can have whatever they want...even children for sex. I say our judicial system has harmed children enough and needs to be cleaned up big time. So much for best interest of the child! "

Good Article wrote on Sep 12, 2007 5:12 AM:

" and worthy for a family newspaper "

Peyton Place wrote on Sep 11, 2007 10:01 PM:

" Gender Bias plain and simple. If this would have been a 40something cougar in the classroom having sex with a 14 year old boy then no jail time would have occured. Prison, ? What a crock ! "

Double Standards wrote on Sep 11, 2007 8:09 PM:

" So, we "correct" some and we "punish" others. Good enough. Now then, following your lead, Pontiac Guard - What do we do with judges, prosecutors, cops and prison guards who violate the public trust? You bringing the rope or shall I? "

To; To Spin It UP wrote on Sep 11, 2007 8:04 PM:

" Ohh, Ohh! Am I wounded by your stellar logic? . I really doubt it. You saw enough facts somewhere in the story to justify all the infective? I do not. Since the case was resolved without a full trial on a plea of no contest, there will always be open questions as to what really happened. At least there will be for those of us with a open capacity to ask real questions. For you and others on here, the facts and the details were moot from the very beginning anyway. Such mental Bliss requires too high a price for my comfort, however. "

To: Pontaic Guard wrote on Sep 11, 2007 7:53 PM:

" Yes, I would expect someone who makes a living off of the skewed system of "justice" we pay for to want more convictions, longer terms and less oversight. Feathering your nest on the problems of others gains you no respect from me, however. I also see that several of the other posters join you in automatically equating sex and "rape". All sex in your collective narrow world-view is about force and violence. No news there. Perhaps you missed my whole point when I wrote: "really stir the push-my-button, reactionary nut-cases up. "? I retain my right to think more clearly and to avoid knee-jerk emotionalism when I read news articles that are short on details but long on loaded language. "

To Spin It Up wrote on Sep 11, 2007 7:02 PM:

" you are one twisted individual to make such an asnine comment. We are talking about a guy who is paid to represent accused people and then sexually abusing children. Maybe in your world raping children is not the big of deal, but in the real world we take pedophiles seriously and punish them accordingly. So make your little comments and accuse someone of hyping up facts, you are a .............................. "

Pontiac Guard again wrote on Sep 11, 2007 4:25 PM:

" It should be a mandatory life sentence if you are convicted of raping a child. A child can not defend him/her self, most of the time they are befriended by the perpetrater, and that trust/friendship is betrayed. I deal with these type of people every day, and it kills me when we have to let them go because their sentence is up. At the same time, their victim has to live with this horrible tradgedy every single day for the rest of their lives. I agree with JMH. Most people in prison for drugs have the ability to be rehibilitated, and become productive members of society (in my opinion). Their sentences should be mostly corrective. A child molester's sentence should be 100% punitive "

Pontiac Guard wrote on Sep 11, 2007 4:18 PM:

" To: "spin it up" You consider this a "plain old average" sex abuse case? What kind of twisted little world do you live in? For starters, downplaying ANY type of abuse of a child as "average" is beyond all comprehension to me. Any type of abuse perpetrated on a child is inexcusible. This guy should not only go to prison, he should be deemed a sexual devient. That would pretty much keep him in prison for life. "

Rolling Eyes wrote on Sep 11, 2007 1:12 PM:

" I experience a certain level of schadenfreude any time a lawyer is punished. To often, they live their lives getting away with EVERYTHING. They are not accountable to the people they rip off or for the laws and bar rules they break. "

jmh wrote on Sep 11, 2007 1:04 PM:

" an attorney molests and rapes 6 girls and he gets a sentence of 25-50 years in prison while a drug dealer gets life. what kinda sense does that make? the atty should have goten much much worse. "

Spin It UP wrote on Sep 11, 2007 1:00 PM:

" Take a plain old average sex abuse case and set it in a courthouse. Then, just add the word "NAKED" to the story and really stir the push-my-button, reactionary nut-cases up. "

chuck wrote on Sep 11, 2007 11:38 AM:

" Do these girls have parents they could have told. "

artical should read... wrote on Sep 11, 2007 11:17 AM:

" Should read "Prosecutors said they plan to recommend a sentence of 25 to 50 years in prison" per EACH COUNT. This is just unbelivable. Right under the courts noses. There is no excause for this. Can you say: Take out of society for ever? (Even if this means exacuction) He being a lawyer (altho humann still) should be held in the highest of courts. Throw the max to him. Better yet throw him to the familes of those little girls. (naked). Justice then would be served. "

Just me wrote on Sep 11, 2007 10:40 AM:

" How terrible for those girls. What a sick monster? I hope he gets life. You just can't trust anyone. "

Well, well, well.... wrote on Sep 11, 2007 10:05 AM:

" Now I see how he could defend criminals - he himself is the worst kind of criminal. "

Eye for an eye wrote on Sep 11, 2007 9:42 AM:

" He should have to serve his sentence naked. "
Add your own comments

Please read the rules before posting comments.

You must be logged in to leave comments.
If you don't have a member ID, please register.

*Member ID:
*Password:
Remember login?
(requires cookies)
  Forgot Your Password?
 
Lee Enterprises Customer Service | 301 W. Washington St., PO Box 2907, Bloomington, IL 61701-2907 | Ph. 309-829-9000 | 800-747-7323
Copyright © 2008, Pantagraph Publishing Co. and Lee Enterprises. All rights reserved. | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy