Judge Accuses Wheelchair Bound Lawyer Of Sex Crime

Updated: Wednesday, 12 May 2010, 2:21 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 10 May 2010, 11:18 PM EDT

Reported by BARBARA NEVINS TAYLOR



MYFOXNY.COM - A man bound to a wheelchair, who can't even feed himself, is charged with sexual harassment against a judge.

Cheecho Mertsaris is accused of sexual abuse, although he can't control his arms, his legs, or his hands. He has cerebral palsy because his brain was damaged during his delivery at birth.

His father and an aide help him with almost everything, even eating.

The thinking part of Mertsaris' brain works fine. He moves his head to manipulate a computer. He graduated from college and earned a law degree.

Mertsaris works as a lawyer at the Taxi and Limousine Commission. He handles cases involving taxi drivers.

Last October, a TLC judge accused Mertaris of grabbing her upper thigh and buttocks while they were in the office alone. His aide had gone to file papers.

His arms and hands tend to flail around and that's where the trouble started. When people get too close to him, Mertsaris tends to get nervous and he has more trouble controlling his arms.

He says his arm moved and hit her. He says he did not intend to touch her.

The judge filed a police report and Mertsaris was charged with sexual abuse. He was brought in and fingerprinted.

The Queens District Attorney has moved forward to prosecute.

Mertsaris' lawyer says he has repeatedly asked the district attorney to drop the case.

Wyatt Gibbons says, "This is one of the most stunning displays of a lack of compassion, a lack of human kindness, a lack of judgment."

A spokesman for the district attorney's office told Fox 5 that the prosecutor believes that Mertsaris uses his hands.

Memos presented to the district attorney from his doctor and physical therapist said his muscles are very tight are "...mostly beyond his...control."

Mertsaris admits that he sent the judge a series of emails two years ago. The judge asked his supervisors to make him stop sending the emails. He says he stopped.

Mertsaris agrees that he got on her nerves because of the emails.

He is set to go on trial in June.

From: http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/investigative/man-with-cerebral-palsy-faces-sexual-abuse-trial-20100510