Atlanta Woman Sues South Georgia Prosecutor Who Sought Sex For Reduced Fines
Savannah, GA – Ms. Oriel Selver filed suit in Chatham County, Georgia against the former prosecutor that propositioned her for sexual favors to reduce her court fines. The suit outlines how Defendant Mr. Todd Orlando Pearson, former solicitor of Springfield Municipal Court, abused his position as a prosecutor and lawyer to stalk and harass Ms. Selver.
On February 28, 2017, Ms. Selver attended Springfield Municipal Court for a speeding ticket. There she met the City’s prosecutor, Mr. Pearson. Before she left, Mr. Pearson had given her his business card and wrote his cell phone number on the back of it. Before Ms. Selver had even made it back home to Atlanta, Mr. Pearson had found her on FaceBook and sent her messages. He then texted Ms. Selver, asking her to engage in “community service” to reduce the fine he had just imposed on her.
Ms. Selver contacted local police, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (“GBI”) started recording telephone calls between Ms. Selver and Mr. Pearson. The GBI also set up a sting operation where Ms. Selver wore a recording device to dinner with Mr. Pearson. That same night as the dinner, the GBI arrested Mr. Pearson who had condoms and a hotel room key in his possession.
“Prosecutors take an oath to uphold justice,” said Ms. Selver’s lawyer Scott Robichaux. “As a former prosecutor, I know the enormous power Pearson had over my client and others appearing in his court. As we’ve seen in the Ahmaud Arbery case, too often prosecutors in South Georgia are not following that oath.”
Local prosecutors have stopped Ms. Selver from reviewing the case and her own recordings. Even more outrageous, the local prosecutor handling the case handed Mr. Pearson a pre-trial diversion plea deal so that he can keep practicing law, hide this from his record, and pretend this never happened.
Robichaux stated: “This lawsuit ensures Ms. Selver’s nightmare of Mr. Pearson’s actions invading her privacy and abusing his power to seek sexual favors does not end with this sweetheart deal in criminal court.” Robichaux noted, “Prosecutors should be held to the highest standards of our Bar. It should go without saying that Pearson’s efforts to require sex to reduce fines failed to meet them.”
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