Boston Lawyer Charged in Alleged Groping Case
A Boston lawyer is to be arraigned today on a charge that he groped a museum curator at a party several months ago.
In what the Boston Globe describes as a court filing by his legal team, Stephen T. Kunian says he met Gloretta Baynes there, admired her cowrie shell necklace, and “reached over to touch the necklace but immediately realized the impropriety of his action and apologized,” the newspaper reports.
His lawyer, Richard Egbert, characterizes the situation as “an attempt to shake him down for money” – a requested $500,000, in exchange for dropping the charge, according to Egbert. Her lawyer confirms the $500,000 settlement offer, and says a previous lawyer for Kunian offered $25,000, which was rejected. “They can call it a shakedown or anything they want,” said James Dilday, counsel for Baynes. “But if he kept his hands to himself, he wouldn’t be in this situation.”
