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Asher Hawkins
The Legal Intelligencer
01-18-2007

A Philadelphia criminal defense lawyer who had been suspended from practicing for a year and a half in the mid-1990s has been arrested after being found naked on Monday with an adolescent in a local Criminal Justice Center conference room.

Philadelphia Police Department spokesman Capt. Benjamin Naish said that when sheriff's deputies found Larry Charles in a third-floor lounge/conference area, he was naked, but the 14-year-old girl was fully clothed. "His actions were indicative of a sexual act," Naish said of Charles.

Naish said police have been unable to confirm reports that the teen is a family friend of Charles'. Charles, 49, has been charged with aggravated statutory sexual assault, among other crimes. Philadelphia's bail department told The Legal Intelligencer late Tuesday that bail has not yet been set for Charles, who was expected to be arraigned early Wednesday morning.

There is only one "Larry Charles" registered with the state as a practicing attorney.

Files maintained by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's Disciplinary Board reveal that in the late 1980s Charles -- at the time a married father of three working with juvenile delinquents in his role as a "youth advocate" for a private agency under contract with the city's Department of Human Services -- was accused of theft and other crimes after allegedly falsifying timesheets.

In September 1990, Charles pleaded no contest to related charges, and Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Jane Cutler Greenspan sentenced him to two years' non reporting probation, according to the board's files. Charles' Pennsylvania practitioner's privileges were ultimately reinstated in March 1996.

According to the board's files, Charles received his law degree in 1986 from Temple University, his undergraduate alma mater, and practiced on a part-time basis while employed as a youth advocate.

West Chester, Pa., solo practitioner Samuel Stretton, who frequently defends attorneys involved in disciplinary proceedings, represented Charles in Charles' case before the board in the mid-1990s.

Stretton said that after he was reinstated to the practice in 1996, "Larry changed, reformed and moved forward with his life."

"If you're in the Criminal Justice Center or out in the police districts, you're going to trip over Larry," Stretton said. "He's a very good, hard-hitting defense lawyer. ... I've really enjoyed watching Larry mature as a criminal defense lawyer. Some of his rough edges had smoothed over."

Philadelphia Common Pleas President Judge C. Darnell Jones II said that as soon as he heard about Charles' arrest, he held an emergency meeting with Court Administrator Dave Lawrence. "I am extremely disturbed by the allegations, and the First Judicial District is looking into what steps to take regarding this attorney's immediate future participation in any active cases in the system," Jones said. "While I recognize a presumption of innocence, nevertheless, the allegations are extremely serious, for which we must immediately take the appropriate and necessary steps."

Jones said that the CJC is open every day, round the clock, so that criminal defendants can be timely arraigned in the building's basement facilities.

Members of the Philadelphia Sheriff's Office are charged with controlling visitors' access to the CJC's above-ground floors during non regular business hours, Jones said.

Naish said police have been told that deputies were aware Charles was in the CJC Monday because he signed in when he entered. When it was noticed that Charles had not promptly exited the building, deputies began searching for him, Naish said.

Stretton said he was shocked to hear about the arrest of his former client.

"He had quite a clientele, and that's why I'm so stunned to hear about these allegations."