A Chicago family law attorney threatened to ruin an employee’s career unless she slept with him. Another woman who was fighting to keep her children in a contested divorce said the lawyer wrote a report recommending her husband get custody — unless she slept with him.
When the threats didn’t elicit the women’s consent, he sexually assaulted them both, Cook County prosecutors alleged in court Wednesday.
The formerly prominent attorney, who also served as a guardian ad litem — a position responsible for making decisions about what is best for a child during divorce proceedings — was arrested Tuesday at his office in the Loop and appeared before a judge Wednesday for a bond court hearing, according to Chicago police and prosecutors.
David Pasulka, 61, was charged on suspicion of felony criminal sexual assault by force, aggravated criminal sexual assault and criminal sexual abuse by force, according to a statement from Chicago police. He appeared before Judge Susana Ortiz, who ordered him held on $100,000 bond. That means he would need to pay $10,000 to get out of jail on the charges, which were announced approximately five months after Judge James Obbish also ordered Pasulka held on suspicion of similar criminal sexual assault charges.
Although police made the arrest this week, the allegations stem from the alleged assaults of two women that police say happened at Pasulka’s law firm nearly four years ago, in early 2017. Prosecutors allege that one of the two women had been repeatedly sexually assaulted beginning in 2016, although all but one alleged attack were beyond the statute of limitations,
Court documents suggest the cases follow the same pattern of using threats and intimidation. In one case, a 48-year-old woman encountered Pasulka because he was acting as guardian ad litem in her contested divorce. Prosecutors said that over the course of three appointments she had with him at his law firm, Pasulka & Associates, 70 W. Madison St., the attorney kept telling her how powerful he was and how much influence he had over who would get custody of her children.
According to prosecutors, Pasulka allegedly told the woman that if she “does the right things she’ll get full custody.” As he fondled her, she made attempts to move away, at which time he told her to “be smart” and that he could help her — if she had sex with him.
The woman ultimately lost custody of her children.
Prosecutors said Pasulka went to the woman’s home under the guise of needing to interview the children, but instead convinced her to speak with him alone in her daughter’s bedroom. There, he allegedly again began touching her under her clothes, and as she tried to get away he told her “not to be so uptight,” prosecutors said. When she said “no,” he gave her his business card and told her if she changed her mind, he could write his custody recommendation report in her favor.
Days later she received a copy of the report, which recommended custody go to her ex-husband. According to prosecutors, Pasulka then allegedly told her, “he could get her custody a few days a week if she had sex with him.” In May 2017, the woman had to go to his office to prepare for trial, and while alone in a conference room, he is accused of sexually abusing the woman. She did not regain custody.
Based on the charges related to the 48-year-old victim, Pasulka faces a minimum of 28 years and as many as 105 years in prison, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
The other charges are in connection with a 31-year-old paralegal who worked at Pasulka’s law firm, prosecutors said. She alleges that during the course of her employment, Pasulka “continuously sexually abused and assaulted (her) and threatened to destroy her reputation in the legal community,” prosecutors contend.
During conference calls with clients, when the 31-year-old was alone in conference rooms with Pasulka, prosecutors said he touched her inappropriately on multiple occasions, including kissing her neck, touching her buttocks and breasts, and forcing her hand to touch him inappropriately, according to prosecutors. Despite the alleged ongoing sexual abuse, prosecutors said she “did not tell anyone because she was afraid and intimidated.”
Around Thanksgiving in 2017, prosecutors said Pasulka sent everyone home early except for the victim and she was allegedly sexually assaulted. Not long after, she was told to monitor Pasulka’s emails as part of her employment. Prosecutors said she saw an email that allegedly revealed another victim — not the 48-year-old — who encountered Pasulka because he was the guardian ad litem in her contested divorce, and who also said she had been abused and the custody of her children threatened.
When she “realized that she wasn’t the only one suffering,” she left the firm and told police, according to prosecutors.
Pasulka in December was barred from practicing law, pending disciplinary action by the state Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission following the 2020 charges, according to records.
The charges are similar to those filed against Pasulka in August 2020. At that time, he was charged with sexually assaulting one of the law firm’s associates at least five times in the firm’s offices, prosecutors said in court at the time. He also was accused of inappropriately touching another associate more than 60 times over the course of several years and sexually abusing a client.
In that case, Pasulka faces one count of criminal sexual assault, one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and one count of criminal sexual abuse. A judge ordered Pasulka held on $10,000 bond, rejecting prosecutors’ argument that he be denied bail.
According to the Cook County sheriff’s office, Pasulka spent less than 24 hours in jail. He was booked Aug. 31 and posted $1,000 bond the same day. Due to processing delays, he was actually released Sept. 1, a few minutes after midnight, a sheriff’s office spokesman said.
Chicago Tribune’s Megan Crepeau contributed.
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