By REBECCA EVERETT
@GazetteRebecca
Daily Hampshire Gazette
NORTHAMPTON — A Southampton attorney who was suspended from practice last year has been charged in Northampton District Court with prostitution.
Karen J. Andrade, 51, pleaded not guilty at her arraignment Wednesday on a single charge of providing sexual conduct for a fee. She was released on personal recognizance.
Northampton District Court documents show that Southampton police first started investigating Andrade in March 2014, soon after she was suspended for 30 days by the state’s Board of Bar Overseers for failing to respond to a board inquiry, according to Supreme Judicial Court records. The investigation began when one of Andrade’s neighbors reported to Officer David Neal that, during the preceding six months, middle-aged men had been coming and going from her 21 East St. home, staying only a short time.
Neal looked up Andrade’s phone number on the Internet, and found websites referring to Andrade’s law practice and mediation services — as well as websites with information about escort services. While her name did not appear on those websites, her phone number appeared in advertisements for escort services and was included in posts by people who had reviewed her alleged escort services, Neal wrote in court documents.
In June 2014, police arrested Andrade at her home on a warrant for motor vehicle charges. According to Neal’s account, officers questioned her about prostitution, showing her one of the advertisements, but she denied it. About five months later, police found a 20-year-old man at her home while responding to an unrelated call. The man admitted to drinking alcohol and told police he met Andrade on the Internet, court records show.
Neal wrote in court documents that on May 21, the neighbor contacted him to report that the visits from random men were picking up again. The neighbor provided license plate numbers of some of the vehicles, which led police to contact one of the visitors. Neal stated that while that man — a Florence resident — initially said he was a friend of Andrade, he later said that she was an “in-call escort” and he had paid her $150 for sexual conduct.
After obtaining a search warrant, seven Southampton police officers searched Andrade’s home June 16, seizing multiple cellphones, laptops, condoms and other items, according to court records. The electronics revealed, among other things, text message conversations in which Andrade allegedly arranged visits with her clients, court records show. In September, she was issued a summons to court for her arraignment Wednesday.
According to court records and Andrade’s LinkedIn profile, she maintained her own law practice from 1992 to 2012, and has more recently worked in mediation, juvenile and custody matters.
Her LinkedIn profile states that since 2012 she has worked as a mediator on cases including custody, divorce, and matters involving the Department of Children and Families. She has also worked as a guardian ad litem, representing children in juvenile and probate court, according to the profile.
The Board of Bar Overseers’ website states that Andrade has been suspended from practicing law since Jan. 21, 2014, and states that disciplinary proceedings against her have been pending since May 20, 2015.
In March 2014, a representative of the Board of Bar Overseers told the Gazette that Andrade had been suspended for 30 days for failing to respond to a board inquiry. Supreme Judicial Court records show that a judge administratively disciplined Andrade in April 2014. She had 28 days to respond or request a hearing, but never did. She was suspended indefinitely on June 11, 2014.
A message left for counsel of the Board of Bar Overseers was not returned Thursday.
According to state law, attorneys can be disciplined for violating the Rules of Professional Conduct. Violations include being convicted of a “serious crime,” being disbarred in another court system, and failing to maintain standards of professional conduct.
Attempts to reach Andrade were unsuccessful Thursday, and her attorney, Emily Shallcross of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, did not return a call seeking comment.
Andrade is due back in court for a pretrial hearing Nov. 12.
Rebecca Everett can be reached at [email protected].
