Salsman was accused of using his position as a private attorney and then district attorney to intimidate and silence his victims, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in the press release. The women who were pressured into sex included women involved in child-custody and criminal cases.
After Salsman was initially charged in February, he had claimed that the allegations were “vicious lies,” according to the AP.
The case was based on claims by five women who testified to coercion. Shapiro had alleged that Salsman would intimidate and coerce the women into unwanted sexual acts on his desk and then direct them to a bathroom in his office to clean up.
First Posted: May 07, 2021 11:02 PM EDT
Photo : Bill Oxford on Unsplash
A district attorney from Pennsylvania pleaded guilty on Friday to pressuring clients for sex when he was a defense attorney.
Bradford County District Attorney Chad Salsman also coerced the victim to keep quiet about it, according to an Associated Press report.
Chad Salsman, who earlier claimed that the case against him was a pack of vicious lies, resigned from office three months after he claimed that he had not committed such crimes. He further claimed that he was the victim of a political tactic by the state s top prosecutor.
As a defense attorney, Chad Salsman had represented a number of women when it comes to child custody matters and some criminal cases.
May 8, 2021
FILE - In this Feb. 3, 2021 file photo, Bradford County, Pa., District Attorney Chad Salsman is escorted into Magisterial District Court, in Towanda, Pa. Salsman pleaded guilty Friday, May 7 to witness intimidation, promoting prostitution and obstruction of justice and resigned from office. (Brianne Ostrander/The Daily Review via AP, File)
A Pennsylvania district attorney who had cast the case against him as a pack of “vicious lies” pleaded guilty Friday to pressuring clients for sex when he was a defense attorney and then coercing them to keep quiet about it.
Bradford County District Attorney Chad Salsman admitted guilt and resigned from office three months after claiming he had “committed no crimes” and hinting he was the victim of a political smear by the state’s top prosecutor.
Chad Michael Salsman, 44, a prosecutor in Bradford County, has pled guilty
Charges include counts of sexual and indecent assault and witness intimidation
Complaints from former clients of Salsman saw how he had touched them inappropriately, forced them to have sex in his office, amid other accusations
Several of his staff testified to seeing distressed women leaving the DA s office
Salsman would ask his secretary to play music or use a white noise machine to drown out the noise coming from his office in Bradford County
As a condition of his plea, Salsman also resigned as the District Attorney
Under the plea agreement, Salsman still faces a maximum sentence of 11 years in state prison and a $25,000 fine
Pa. district attorney resigns after pleading guilty to pressuring women into prostitution, more
Updated May 07, 12:37 PM;
Posted May 07, 11:49 AM
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A district attorney in northern Pennsylvania has agreed to resign after pleading guilty to pressuring clients into prostitution while he was a private lawyer, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Friday.
Bradford County District Attorney Chad Salsman has pleaded guilty to charges of intimidation, promoting prostitution, and obstruction of justice relating to his actions with five women, according to the attorney general’s office. Salsman was charged with coaxing clients into prostitution for legal services while working as a private attorney. Some of Salsman’s victims were involved in sexual assault and child custody cases, according to Shapiro’s office.