After Conviction for Sex With Minor, Former Shelton Attorney Can't Practice Law Again Until 2041
Former attorney Peter Kruzynski, who was sentenced in July to prison for engaging in sex with a minor, has also been suspended from law for 15 years. The Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel recommended the suspension, which was signed off on by a Superior Court judge.
September 17, 2018 at 11:46 AM
4 minute read
A former Shelton attorney sentenced in July to 13 years in prison for enticing a minor to engage in sex over a number of years has now been suspended from practicing law for 15 years.
The order by Bridgeport Superior Court Judge Frank Iannotti to suspend Peter Kruzynski means that the disgraced former attorney will not be allowed to practice law for 23 years. While the suspension is for 15 years, Chief Disciplinary Counsel Brian Staines told the Connecticut Law Tribune Monday that Kruzynski will not be allowed to reapply until his entire 23-year sentence is completed. Following his sentence of 13 years in prison, Kruzynski will then be on supervised release for 10 years. The order to suspend Kruzynski from practicing law was made on the recommendation of the Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel, which released its August report of attorney discipline on Friday.
Related: Shelton Attorney Faces Sexual Assault Charges
In its January 2018 amended complaint and presentment in the case of the 51-year-old Kruzynski, the Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel wrote “the disciplinary counsel believes the respondent poses a substantial threat of irreparable harm to his clients and to prospective clients.”
Kruzynski pleaded guilty in January to one count of enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity. In July, U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut Judge Jeffrey Meyer sentenced him to 13 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release. Kruzynski was also ordered to pay $215,000 in restitution.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Kruzynski, who was a general practitioner and was admitted to the Connecticut Bar in May 1994, used his mobile phone and text messaging to entice an underage male to engage in sexual activity. Court records show he engaged in sex acts with the victim from between 2009 to 2016, beginning when the boy was just 12 years old. The age of consent for sexual activity in Connecticut is 16 years old. That age of consent rises to 18 if the defendant holds a position of authority over the victim, such as a coach or teacher.
On one occasion, court documents said, Kruzynski used his phone to take photographs of the victim engaged in sexually explicit conduct when the boy was 17 years old.
According to prosecutors, Kruzynski then used those photographs to blackmail the victim.
“Mr. Kruzynski threatened to send the photographs to others if the victim ended their relationship or did not continue to spend time with Mr. Kruzynski,” the government's sentencing memo stated. Prosecutors said the misconduct on the part of Kruzynski did not stop until August 2016, when the victim, who was then 18 years old, reported the years of abuse to police.
In addition to the count he pleaded guilty to, Kruzynski was also charged with the production of child pornography. That charged was dismissed during sentencing.
In his defendant's memo in aid of sentencing, Kruzynski said he took “full responsibility for his wrongful conduct.”
Kruzynski's attorney, Eugene Riccio of the Fairfield-based Law Offices of Eugene J. Riccio, told the Connecticut Law Tribune Monday that “the accusations against my client didn't relate to his practice of law and his professional suspension is not a reflection upon how he conducted his law practice.”
Chief disciplinary counsel Staines meanwhile declined to elaborate on the specifics of the case.
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