RICHMOND, Va. — A local defense attorney who was found guilty of a sex crime now faces possible disciplinary action by the Virginia State Bar.
Matt Pinsker’s hearing before the Virginia State Bar’s Disciplinary Board started Monday.
CBS6 legal analyst Todd Stone said the bar will determine whether Pinsker engaged in professional misconduct.
If such a finding is made, he could be sanctioned with a reprimand or suspension, or he could lose his license to practice law.
In May of 2021, CBS6 reported that defense attorney and former prosecutor Matt Pinsker had been indicted in Henrico on three felony charges, including rape after he was accused by a VCU student of sexual assault.
At the time, Pinsker was an adjunct professor at the University.
According to documents obtained from the Virginia State Bar, the young woman first interned for Pinsker and then was hired to work for him.
The documents state that on February 5, 2021, the two drank wine and liquor together.
The next morning, the intern said she woke up alone on the floor of Pinsker’s new law office.
She said that Pinsker later told her they had sexual interactions, but he did not think they had sex.
The woman ended up going to VCU Medical Center for a rape kit.
Pinsker later told police he did have sex with the intern, but claimed it was consensual and they were both drunk.
After the indictment, the case was scheduled to go to trial, but Pinsker ended up entering an Alford plea in June of last year to a reduced charge of misdemeanor sexual battery.
State bar documents said that during sentencing the court agreed with the prosecution that it appeared Pinsker was grooming interns.
Pinsker was sentenced to 12 months behind bars.
However, Pinsker maintains the intern came on to him, and the sex was consensual, but claims he entered an Alford plea because he could not afford to take a chance that the jury got it wrong.
A subcommittee of the Virginia State Bar now alleges Pinsker engaged in professional misconduct by committing a criminal deliberately wrongful act that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness to practice law.
According to bar documents in Pinsker’s plea agreement, they state “the Commonwealth and defendant will jointly request that the court make a finding that the sexual battery was accomplished by force threats or intimidation, and not by means of physical helplessness or incapacity.
The disciplinary hearing is scheduled to continue Tuesday.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email [email protected] to send a tip.
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