Law Partner Resigns in Wake of Child Porn Charges

Allen & Overy Partner Resigns in Wake of Child Porn Charges
The New York Law Journal by Brian Baxter  -  July 18, 2011

An Allen & Overy partner in New York resigned from the firm on Friday after federal prosecutors in New Jersey charged him with distributing child pornography.  Edward M. De Sear, 65, of Saddle River, N.J., appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in Newark on Thursday. He was released on $250,000 bond and ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device, according to a press release from the New Jersey U.S. Attorney's Office.  Mr. De Sear is charged with one count of distribution of child pornography for allegedly downloading and distributing videos and other images going back to Sept. 16, 2010, according to a statement by federal prosecutors.  The government's graphic four-page criminal complaint states that federal investigators downloaded the images from a computer hard drive belonging to Mr. De Sear. (CLICK HERE TO READ THE FEDEAL COMPLAINT)

A spokesman for London-based Allen & Overy on Friday said that Mr. De Sear had left the firm.    "Everyone has been shocked and appalled by the news that a lawyer in our New York office…has been criminally charged by federal prosecutors…after being arrested at his home," the spokesman said. "He has resigned from the firm. This is now subject to a federal investigation so we cannot make any further comment."  One of Mr. De Sear's lawyers, Michael Critchley Jr., of Critchely, Kinum & Vazquez, in Roseland, N.J., declined to comment on the case. Mr. De Sear is also represented by John Vazquez of the same firm.  Mr. De Sear joined Allen & Overy in August from Bingham McCutchen. He became a member of that firm after its merger with McKee Nelson in June 2009.  According to his LinkedIn profile, Mr. De Sear also is a former partner of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (1993 to 2003) and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCoy (1988 to 1993).  The case against Mr. De Sear is being prosecuted by Shirley Emehelu, an assistant U.S. attorney with the general crimes unit in Newark and a former Debevoise & Plimpton associate.  If convicted, Mr. De Sear faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.  Mr. De Sear is the third lawyer in recent months to run into problems with child pornography.  Last month, former Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher associate Moshe Gerstein was one of a number of people charged in a sweeping child pornography sting conducted by federal prosecutors in Manhattan (NYLJ, June 15). Mr. Gerstein was later found dead in Mexico (NYLJ, June 24).  And Joshua Gessler, a former lawyer in Arnold & Porter's Northern Virginia office, lost his law license last month after he was charged in August 2010 with possessing and producing child pornography. Mr. Gessler pleaded guilty in March to six sexual offenses involving a 15-year-old girl, according to news reports.  Brian Baxter, a reporter at The American Lawyer, an affiliate publication, can be contacted at bbaxter@alm.com.  (CLICK HERE TO READ THE U.S. ATTORNEY'S STATEMENT ON THE ARREST)