Attorney disbarred following child sex crime conviction
A Georgia attorney who pleaded guilty in August 2025 to a child-related felony was disbarred in a unanimous decision issued Tuesday by the Georgia Supreme Court. (Image from Shutterstock)
A Georgia attorney who pleaded guilty in August 2025 to a child-related felony was disbarred in a unanimous decision issued Tuesday by the Georgia Supreme Court.
Forsyth County, Georgia, lawyer Richard Linwood Parsons had been arrested in New Jersey and later pleaded guilty Aug. 4, 2025, to one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
The state supreme court determined July 7 that his conviction violated the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct.
Parsons was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 2012. According to the Georgia Supreme Court’s opinion, the conviction stemmed from sexually explicit online conversations that Parsons had with someone he thought was 14 years old.
Three other charges were dismissed as part of the plea agreement. Parsons was sentenced to time served and lifetime parole. He must register as a sex offender, according to a story by Fox 5 Atlanta.
Parsons was one of 21 men arrested during a multiagency undercover investigation in New Jersey in 2024. Investigators said the operation targeted adults using social media to lure children for sex.
A special master appointed in the disciplinary case against Parsons found that he had no prior disciplinary history and cooperated with the State Bar of Georgia’s investigation. However, the special master said the offense “involved serious criminal conduct with the potential for significant harm and recommended disbarment,” according to Fox 5 Atlanta.
The Georgia Supreme Court agreed and said allowing an attorney convicted of a child-related sex offense to continue practicing law “would erode public confidence in the legal profession,” according to Fox 5 Atlanta.
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