Gavel-handcuff

A Dallas criminal defense attorney who lured teenage girls to his law office with the promise of a job and then masturbated in front of them will be spending the next eight years of his life in prison after he was convicted of two counts of felony indecency with a child by exposure.

Rayan Ganesh, 34, was sentenced yesterday by 282nd State District Judge Amber Givens-Davis.

Ganesh was also charged with seven felony counts of barratry. Prosecutors alleged that Ganesh would roam the hallways of Dallas' Frank Crowley Courts Building looking for defendants who were not represented by counsel.

“He would come down here every day and approach people who didn't have lawyers and would tell them he could get their case dismissed for a very low price, usually for about $500,” Mike Snipes, Dallas County's first assistant district attorney, said in an interview. “If they happened to have a teenage daughter with them, and if they were Hispanic, he would offer them a job.”

Snipes alleged Ganesh would have the teenage girls, who ranged in age from 15 to 19 years old, come to his law office after business hours to “work.”

“He would look at teen Hispanic porn on his computer,” Snipe said. “And the girls testified they saw the porn and he would stare at them and masturbate.”

Ganesh was only tried on two indecency charges, but Snipes alleged he had more victims.

Bill Cox, a Dallas County criminal defense attorney who represents Ganesh, did not immediately return a call for comment.

While prosecutors declined to try Ganesh on the barratry charges, one Dallas criminal defense attorney testified during the punishment phase of the trial that he witnessed Ganesh roaming the hallways of the courthouse ”stalking” clients and was offended by his behavior.

Lee Bright, a Dallas criminal defense attorney, testified that he had a verbal confrontation with Ganesh after watching him approach a long-term client of his in the courthouse.

“I know other attorneys who sat down with him and said 'You can't do this. Here are the elements of the offense of barratry and you have to stop doing this,'” Bright said in an interview. “And it would go in one ear and out the other. We would literally sit in the foyer and watch it happen.''

At the conclusion of his trial, the courtroom was packed with about 30 lawyers—both prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys—who were there to see justice served to Ganesh, Snipes said.

“I had all of the lawyers in the courtroom stand up. And I said 'Each of you are victims of this,'” Snipes said, referring to Ganesh's unethical behavior. “Because you make us look like the worst nightmare of the public as to what lawyers are all about.'”

“He preyed upon defendants when they were at their weakest moment and took advantage. And then he used them to take advantage of these little girls,” Snipes said. “The barratry part is problematic. But him using that to feed his salacious desires is really what made it bad.”