I also need to give the ABA Journal credit for its headline, "Lawyer Says Dropping His Pants Was Educational Rather than Sexual."
The lawyer, who has pleaded not guilty to public indecency, reportedly exposed himself to two 19-year-old men at a cafe he founded, which the Akron Beacon-Journal described as a "Christian outreach center for troubled teens." (Pretty good mugshot at that link, too.) According to one of the young men, the lawyer talked to them about his own troubled childhood and other "sad, dark things." Eventually, he asked them whether they thought he could make them "think differently." When they asked what he meant, "[h]e stood up and pulled his pants down." That probably did make them think differently, but it also made them call 911.
The lawyer seems to have freely admitted the pants-dropping, and in fact said that doing so is part of a "mentoring program" he has developed for his work with at-risk youth. Yes, it may seem unusual, he said, but "[r]adical times call for radical measures. . . . We're not afraid to do what it takes." I guess not.
He did not explain just how this type of mentoring is helpful to the young people involved, but that may be part of what his attorney has advised him not to talk about. "There is more to the story that I would like to tell," he was quoted as saying, but "I've been advised not to." That was good advice, my friend, because let me tell you, you've already said way too much.
Still, he contended that all would be made clear once the facts came out. "There are two sides to the story," he said. "I would ask that no one rush to judgment before hearing the other side." Well, I think we've already heard it, but I'm more than willing to listen further.
