IN PLEA DEAL, LAWYER ADMITS HAVING SEX WITH TEENAGERS

New York Times/Anemona Hartocollis

James Colliton, a 43 year old lawyer, was nabbed in a Manhattan hotel on March 3, 2006, aweek after going into hiding to avoid arrest on charges of paying a mother for sex with her twounderage daughters.  The father of five was ordered held without bail after pleading notguilty to charges of second degree rape, patronizing a prostitute and bribing a witness. Colliton is accused of paying to have sex with two underage sisters in his East 56th Street studioapt.  First with one girl when she was 15 in 2000, and then moving onto her sister at age 13in 2004.  Colliton began a barrage of phone calls and repeated efforts to stop the girls frommaking his involvement known.  He offered them money, and he gave them money, he promisedthem things for lying to authorities.  The girl's mother was held on $100,000 bail after shewas indicted on charges of promoting prostitution and endangering a child's welfare.  Themother has a history of child abuse and neglect and in 2000 was convicted of endangering thewelfare of a child.  The mother pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor child endangerment charge onApril 13, 2006.  She was able to strike a deal that set her free on time served after heryoungest daughter said she wouldn't testify in the case.  She had pleaded guilty toendangering the welfare of a child and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and had been behind barssince she was arrested.  Colliton was officially disbarred on February 6, 2008, four monthsafter he admitted to bedding the girls.
Colliton pleaded guilty on October 2, 2007 to charges of statutory rape and patronizing aprostitute in return for a one-year prison sentence.
(New York)