Attorney admits inappropriately touching a client

POUGHKEEPSIE – An attorney with an office in the Town of Poughkeepsie, pleaded guilty in the City of Poughkeepsie Court to the charge of forcible touching, a misdemeanor, for an offense which he committed on May 16, 2017.
Wayne Thatcher admitted to forcibly touching the intimate parts of the victim, a former client, for his own sexual gratification while meeting with her during the course of their attorney-client relationship.
Thatcher is scheduled to be sentenced on November 17, at which time the District Attorney’s Office will recommend a sentence of 60 days in jail and six years probation, the maximum authorized under the law.
Kristine Whelan, Bureau Chief for the Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office Special Victims Bureau, said that although Thatcher was charged with additional counts involving two other victims, “there was insufficient evidence to prove those cases beyond a reasonable doubt, which is the standard of proof necessary for a criminal conviction.”