Melbourne defense attorney faces more human trafficking charges
Accused of using law firm as a prostitution front
A Melbourne criminal defense attorney accused of using his law firm as a prostitution front is facing more human trafficking charges, based on allegations that he had sex with an underage girl in exchange for legal services he provided to her pimp.
Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution confirmed Wednesday that John Gillespie, 71, is facing additional counts of trafficking a juvenile for commercial sex and trafficking an adult for commercial sex.
The 15-year-old girl first made the allegations against Gillespie in an interview she did with an investigator in December 2014.
In a second interview April 23 with agents from the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation, the now-adult victim said she met the attorney in 2013, about two months after an Orlando man named Montavius Postell began trafficking her, according to redacted MBI records obtained by the Orlando Sentinel.
Without her knowledge, Postell arranged for the girl to have sex with Gillespie, who was Postell’s attorney, multiple times in exchange for legal fees. The victim told investigators she was chosen because “everybody’s dream girl is blond hair and blue eyes, so I was everybody’s dream girl.”
After telling her to “dress nice,” Postell drove the teenager to Gillespie’s office, where he gave her a condom and told her to have sex with his lawyer, according to the report.
The victim began crying when she told investigators Gillespie didn’t ask her age. She said she didn’t speak to him as they had sex “because it was nasty.”
After she left the attorney’s office, the victim said she overheard Gillespie complaining to Postell that she was inexperienced, adding that he wanted another “blond with blue eyes,” the documents said.
“You better find somebody else better or pay,” Gillespie told his client, according to the victim.
Postell was angry after the girl didn’t satisfy Gillespie, telling her she had to “do better” if she wanted to stay, the victim told investigators. Although she wanted to leave, the victim said she could not tell Postell that or he would beat her. The victim said Postell took other women to meet Gillespie at the lawyer’s office and a courthouse for sex multiple times, but she was never forced to have intercourse with the attorney again, the report said.
Postell and an accomplice were accused of physically and sexually abusing, drugging and prostituting a 15-year-old girl in 2013. He pleaded guilty to trafficking a minor and lewd or lascivious battery. Orange County court records show he was represented by Gillespie in a 2012 criminal traffic case.
MBI agents also interviewed another woman April 29 who told them Gillespie supplied her with drugs and let her live in his home in exchange for her prostituting herself and cleaning his house. The woman said Gillespie promised her he would get her custody of her children and described him as “a monster, someone who takes advantage of any women in a bad situation,” according to the records.
Gillespie pleaded not guilty to the previous charges filed against him, including racketeering and human trafficking for commercial sexual activity with a child under 18, court records show. Investigators say the attorney agreed to pay an undercover agent posing as an underage girl $100 for sex and used his law firm to recruit women into prostitution.
Gillespie’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. when social isn’t possible.
But many faculty members are nervous about returning to campus and worry the university might be moving too fast, said Trustee Joseph Harrington, a physics professor and chairman of the Faculty Senate. He urged the university leaders to test out these proposals on a small group of students before inviting back the entire student body of nearly 70,000.
Among faculty members, he said, “very few people are saying, ‘It’s time, let’s go back right now.’”
Harrington worried asking students to wear masks wouldn’t be enforceable, pointing out many grocery stores now ask shoppers to cover their faces but not everyone complies.
“There are political and social aspects of wearing a
distancing mask,” he said, adding “It’s unfortunate, but I don’t see necessarily that we’re going to get it right the first time around.”
Board Chair Beverly Seay responded that the campus needs to create a culture where people can speak up if someone around them isn’t wearing a mask.
“This isn’t a grocery store,” she said. “We have a little more control over the individuals than those who can wander in and out of stores.”
Classes also will be smaller or moved to larger locations so students can spread out. A presentation posted to the trustees’ website includes diagrams of classrooms with many seats not in use to promote social distancing. One shows a large lecture room in the business administration building with just 28% of the 220 seats filled. Another shows a small classroom with students occupying just over half of 33 seats.
Students can expect a mix of online and in-person classes, as well as courses that include a combination of the two formats, the presentation says. The school will “prioritize experiential courses for face-to-face instruction,” the document says.
The school will also “develop occupancy guidelines” for dorms, reserve space for students who need to quarantine and reconfigure common areas, the presentation said. Social events will be restricted. Instead, the university will develop online activities for students.
It’s unclear whether the Knights will play football this fall and if they do, whether fans will be allowed to attend games. President Alex Cartwright said the school is working with the athletic conference to make that decision.
“There are still so many unknowns about the fall and what that will look like for competition,” he said.
University leaders also say they don’t know whether Greek organizations and other student clubs will be allowed to operate, but they are trying to find a way for them to continue some activities while complying with the campus’ social distancing rules.
Each state university must submit its plans for reopening by June 12 to the Board of Governors, which is scheduled to consider them for approval during its next meeting June 23.