Perhaps you recall Reema Bajaj – she is the Illinois attorney, just recently admitted to the bar, who is facing prostitution charges after police say they found emails that were “setting up trysts as part of an unrelated investigation,” according to the abajournal.com article, “Lawyer Is Charged with Prostitution, Allegedly Tells Police She Gave It Up After Passing Bar”.
Bajaj, of Sycamore, and a graduate of Northern Illinois University College of Law, is charged with three counts of prostitution. At the DeKalb County Courthouse in Sycamore, Circuit Judge Robbin Stuckert read the following charges against her: Prostitution within 1,000 feet of a school, a Class 4 felony punishable by up to three years in prison, and two counts of prostitution, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by less than a year in a county jail.
These charges are in connection with two separate incidents. One occurred on August 13, 2010, and the other in May, per court documents. Bond was set for Bajaj at $5,000. She psoted the $500 bail in order to be released from Jail. Apparently, Bajaj allegedly admitted being involved in prostitution prior to obtaining her law license, but then gave it up after becoming a laywer.
Bajaj will celebrate her 26th birthday next week, according to information posted at Above The Law.
In a June blog posting at Above The Law, entitled, “All Rise! Reema Bajaj’s Bajayjay Is Now In Session”, DeKalb Police Lt. Gary Spangler was quoted as saying “and it was quite obvious from the content of the e-mails she had arranged for encounters for money. There were pictures with the e-mails and we were able to identify (Bajaj). From there we were able to get other e-mails which connected her to other individuals regarding prostitution.”
A comment Bajaj she herself posted regarding her arrest reads: “I have been charged with prostitution. These charges are serious, and it has been a trying times for me. I have fought for the rights of my clients. Things happen for a reason, and although I do not yet know the reason this is happening to me, I am sure that one day I will. I have many clients who walk through my doors telling me: ‘They did not do it.’ I am one of those who believe what my clients tell me and I aggressively defend them in court. I will now be doing the same thing for myself.”
Also per the June Above the Law blog, David Camic, Bajaj’s attorney, David Camic of Camic Johnson in Aurora, Illinois, was quoted as saying in response to nude photos of Bajaj:
“You should be aware that there are persons who claim to have had a prior relationship or friendship with Ms. Baja who are attempting to exploit this prosecution for their own purposes. You should be aware that there may have been photos taken of Ms. Bajaj prior to her graduation from college.
A man or woman may experience a momentary lapse of judgment in their youth and years later discover that photographs, taken in a private moment, perhaps voluntarily or perhaps unknowingly photographed in a private setting, depict them in an unflattering mode. The depiction, taken at a young, immature time, was certainly never intended for mass distribution and may not have been intended for even private viewership.”