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Philadelphia lawyer charged with having sex with teen sex slave

A girl kidnapped into sex slavery in Philadelphia was passed on to others and ended up in Georgia, investigators said.

By Frances Burns

PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- A Philadelphia lawyer had sex with a 14-year-old girl supplied for him by former clients with some encounters taking place in his office, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Brian Meehan, 56, who lives in suburban Berwyn, Pa., surrendered Tuesday morning, District Attorney Seth Williams said. He faces a number of charges.

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Meehan allegedly told his victim that he had also had sex with a 12-year-old girl, Williams said. Williams said the girl had been forced to have sex with many men but Meehan was the only one she could identify by name as well as giving details of the law office where he was a partner.

"He practiced law by day and bought an under-aged girl by night," Assistant District Attorney Meghan Goddard said.

The girl, now 16, was allegedly kidnapped in 2012 by a couple in the Germantown neighborhood who kept several other girls in their home and forced them to have sex with men. At one point, she was allegedly sold to a Camden, N.J., man and then taken to Georgia by a pimp.

She came to the attention of federal investigators in Georgia, who determined she was a sex trafficking victim.

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When she was interviewed by Philadelphia investigators, the girl was able to describe the layout of Meehan's office in a highrise office building in the center of the city, Williams said. She said the lawyer had sex wtih her while one of her keepers waited outside.

Meehan, a lawyer who practiced in criminal defense and civil litigation, was fired by his law partners in October. His lawyer said only one side of the case has been presented so far.

"At this point, we're not privy to any of the facts that the D.A. alleges in the indictment because of the nature of the grand jury process, but my client maintains his innocence," Fortunato Perri Jr. said.

The Germantown couple are in custody, Williams said. They were not identified by name because a grand jury investigation is still underway.

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