Prosecutor Gets 6-Month Suspension for Showing Teen Sex Photos to Parents
A prosecutor in Kansas who suffers from a form of autism has been suspended from practice for six months for showing sexually explicit photographs to parents of some teenagers who attended a 2007 party at which alcohol was served.
One teen attendee, who was photographed having intercourse after reportedly downing six drinks, complained afterward to her school guidance counselor that she had been raped, reports the National Law Journal in an article reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.). The photographs were then provided to Anderson County Attorney Frederick Campbell by law enforcement officers, but he decided not to pursue the potential criminal case because the situation appeared to be consensual.
Campbell, 49, did however show the photos to some parents of other teens who attended the party, even though the mother of the teenage girl photographed having sex had called him beforehand and asked him not to, the legal publication recounts.
Although he argued that his intentions were good when he showed the photos to parents of other partygoers in an effort to demonstrate the dangers of teenage drinking, the Supreme Court of Kansas on Jan. 16 issued an order suspending Campbell from practice for six months. It cited not only the humiliation caused to the teenage girl by having the photos publicized but the deterrent effect that Campbell’s action might have on the willingness of future rape victims to report the controversial crime.
In so doing, the supreme court also found that a three-month suspension recommended by a disciplinary panel was not sufficient.
Campbell said he accepts the punishment and planned to stop coming to work as of yesterday.
