Ladera Ranch Criminal Attorney Sentenced For Sexual Battery

LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA — A criminal defense attorney from Laguna Hills was sentenced to serving five months in jail for fondling a female client in his office, officials reported.

Adam Rudnick Stull, 57, a Ladera Ranch native, was convicted in July of two misdemeanor counts of sexual battery. The victim was in her late 20s when the attorney "massaged her rear end both over and under her clothing"on Nov. 7, 2017, Deputy District Attorney Michael Carroll said during the trial.

"He told her to lay down and she did, and he began massaging her body without her consent and put his hands up and down her back, touching her butt under her shirt," Carroll said. Several days later, she reported the incident to Orange County Sheriff’s Department, who investigated this case.

At trial, the jury believed the victim and found Stull guilty of two misdemeanor counts of sexual battery, but jurors rejected a charge accusing him of touching the woman's vaginal area.

He will spend five months in Orange County Jail, have four years of formal probation, and mandatory registration as a sex offender pursuant to PC 290, the OCDA's office reported.

During the trial, the Orange County District Attorney's office discussed a previous instance when Stull was terminated from the Kern County DA's office after being convicted of sex with a minor while coaching mock trials in Kern County in the 1990s. Stull temporarily lost his license to practice law following that conviction, the Orange County District Attorney's Office said. Stull later had the conviction expunged in Orange County, continued to work as a Criminal Defense Attorney until this case.

Stull's attorney, Dana Cole, noted that his client was originally charged with a felony count of sexual battery by restraint, but it was tossed out by a judge before trial. Cole also indicated that Stull would be appealing the conviction, questioning the propriety of allowing witness testimony during the trial about the previous court case.

City News Service contributed to this report

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