Orange County Jail mugshot of Florida defense attorney John Gillespie.Florida Lawyer Arrested for Allegedly Running Prostitution Ring From His Home
This lawyer said he was "always on the right side" of the law, but prosecutors say he drove miles to have sex with a minor.
April 20, 2020 at 04:54 PM
2 minute read
Florida defense attorney John Gillespie, 71, has been arrested over allegations of human trafficking a minor and offering legal help for sex to victims as young as 15, according to a press release Monday from Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.
Gillespie is accused of running a prostitution ring from his Melbourne home after a probe by the Orlando Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation.
The lawyer was arrested Saturday after allegedly traveling to Orange County from Brevard County to pay $100 for sex with a 16-year-old, whom he planned to recruit to live with him, prosecutors said. The girl was actually an undercover agent, whom a confidential informant had introduced to Gillespie.
|'Always on the right side'
The Florida Attorney General's office is prosecuting the case. Moody called the lawyer's alleged actions repulsive.
"This behavior from a well-known and experienced attorney is repulsive. Attorneys swear an oath to maintain respect and to abstain from all offensive personality. These alleged actions insult all attorneys who have a passion to protect the defenseless or oppressed," Moody's statement said. "His website states 'Never been a prosecutor, always on the right side of the innocent'. Yet, he has been abusing innocent girls, and I look forward to him meeting a real and ethical prosecutor from my Office of Statewide Prosecution in court very soon."
Gillespie was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1985 before joining the Florida bar in 1998, and once ran for Orange-Osceola public defender.
In a statement, the Orlando Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation said evidence indicates that the attorney used his firm, the Law Offices of John Gillespie, to initiate women facing criminal charges into prostitution.
"Gillespie provided the women with illegal drugs, posted them online as escorts, arranged the prostitution dates and allowed them to use his Melbourne home for the acts of prostitution," investigators said.
Gillespie represents clients across Central Florida in multiple areas of litigation, including criminal defense, family law, bankruptcy, personal Injury and probate cases.
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