Rockville Attorney Pleads Guilty In Underage Sex Sting

ROCKVILLE, MD – Michael D. Dobbs, the longtime Rockville criminal defense lawyer arrested for allegedly soliciting a minor for sex in March, pleaded guilty Thursday in the same courthouse where he once worked, WTOP reports.

Dobbs, 57, was a defense attorney in Rockville, accused of sending illicit text messages to someone he believed to be a 15-year-old named "Brandon" who he met on Craig's List. "Brandon" was actually undercover police, and Dobbs was later arrested when he drove to a parking lot of a Rockville climbing gym expecting to meet the teen.

Instead, the police met Dobbs in the parking lot and charged him on the single count of solicitation of a minor for sex. Dobbs' defense attorney Devid Felson said his client was dealing with "significant mental health issues" and asks that Dobbs receives a six-month sentence.

Dobbs worked at the Montgomery County State's Attorney's office at one point, in the same courthouse where he pleaded guilty. He was released on a $100,000 bond after a hearing in March, in a courthouse two blocks from his law office, Washington Post reports.

At one point in the text exchanges, Dobbs wrote to "Brandon": "Im an attorney." Dobbs grew up in Montgomery County and got his law degree from the University of Maryland in 1984.

“In 25 years, I’ve never heard anyone say a bad word about Mike,” Rockville defense lawyer David Martella told Washington Post at the time of Dobbs' arrest. “I think very highly of him as a lawyer and a human being. I hope there is an explanation for the allegations.”

Felson said “incarceration would serve no useful purpose in this case," according to WTOP.

Read the complete WTOP post here.

Photo: Montgomery County Police Department