Summary: Manhattan Beach Police said an entertainment lawyer used his Hollywood status to seduce a teen boy for gay sex.
An entertainment lawyer has been accused of using his glitz and glamour to seduce a minor for gay sex.
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The Los Angeles Times reports that Benjamin Lawson Adams, 31, found a 14-year-old on social media last year and used his status in Hollywood to convince the kid to have sex with him. He is now being charged with three acts of lewd acts on a child, including sodomy and penetration by a foreign object.
Adams was arrested in May, and police said that he used his place in Hollywood to attract the youngster.
“It is believed that Adams used his title of entertainment attorney to attract the victim’s interest,” Manhattan Beach police detective Aleina Smith said.
Adams was an attorney with a production company that worked with MGM, according to CBS News. MGM told CBS he is no longer employed there.
Police say that the alleged pedophile lawyer met with the boy multiple times. If convicted, Adams may face eight years in prison.
On Thursday, Adams pleaded not guilty. He has been released hours after his arrest on $200,000 bail and has a court date set for September 27.
According to Greenville Online, a South Carolina publication, Adams graduated from Furman University in 2008, but a spokesperson from Furman said he was not allowed to provide additional information about the attorney’s time there.
Before attending Furman, Adams was an ex-student of Bob Jones University, and there are rumors of a history of sexual impropriety there that the Manhattan Beach police are looking into.
“It is alleged he was dismissed from (BJU) after juveniles came forward alleging sexual abuse,” Smith said to Greenville Online. “If the allegations of sexual abuse were made, it is unclear if Bob Jones University, once alerted to the allegations, informed law enforcement. I have not found any documentation that shows the university properly reported the abuse to law enforcement at the time they learned of it.”
An investigation into Adams is still pending, according to police.
What do you think will happen to Adams? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: The Los Angeles Times, Greenville Online