Accused of spanking client for saying 'uh huh', suspended lawyer faces criminal case
Suspended from law practice last year for misconduct related to sexual activities, a Missouri lawyer is now facing a criminal case over new allegations.
Eric Hutson, 52, allegedly met with a criminal defense client last year after his law license had been suspended, and spanked her several times during the meeting, reports KY3-TV.
The woman, now 20, said Hutson recorded their conversation, but stopped and started the tape several times when she answered “uh huh,” telling her that she must answer yes or no, and he would spank her if she didn’t. Then he followed through on his threat, again stopping and starting the tape as he administered the corporal punishment, the woman told a detective, a probable cause statement says.
The woman told her parents and apparently hired a new lawyer, who obtained the tape of her meeting with Hutson. A detective reviewed it, and said that the tape did appear to have been stopped and started several times, according to the probable cause statement.
Hutson was charged Tuesday with five misdemeanors, including one count of false impersonation and four counts of assault, the station reports.
His law license was suspended last year, for at least three years, after he admitted he had had sexual relationships with the mother of a client and an 18-year-old female high school student. In exchange for his consent to the suspension, two misdemeanor sexual misconduct charges were dropped, the article says.
Hutson’s wife, who is a local judge in Laclede County, filed for divorce last year.
An outside judge is expected to hear his criminal case, after local judges recused themselves, and an assistant state attorney general is acting as a special prosecutor in the case.
