PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A Tampa attorney is out of jail after Pinellas County deputies arrested him for reportedly soliciting sex and having sexual contact with inmates at the Pinellas County Jail.
Andrew Spark, 54, was caught in a private visitation room Sunday with a female inmate at the Pinellas County Jail with his pants down, according to investigators.
He’s accused of using his position as an attorney to gain private access to female inmates who he wasn’t representing in different facilities across the Tampa Bay area and central Florida, investigators say.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri says Spark recorded videos of the encounters on his iPad and is believed to have published the content online.
Gualtieri says attorneys are the only people allowed to bring electronics into the jail with the understanding that the devices will be used for work with clients.
Gualtireri says deputies were tipped off prior to Spark’s recent visit Sunday and wired a visitation room before he saw inmate Antoinette Rose Napolitano.
The sheriff says Spark had sexual encounters with Napolitano in visitation rooms from June up until Sunday.
Spark would offer money in exchange for sex, the sheriff says.
Gualtieri says records show several deposits to Napolitano’s accounts from Spark, ranging in the amounts of $30 to $40, and sometimes less.
Investigators are unsure of the exact number of inmates involved, but they know of another incident where they believe Spark approached an inmate he previously met at a pornography convention.
Gualtieri says that inmate turned down Spark’s offer to make a sex video in the visitation room.
Spark responded to News Channel 8 via text message and said he was planning to release a statement.
He did not respond to a request to speak on camera.
News Channel 8 has learned that Spark previously worked as an Assistant Attorney General with the Florida Attorney General’s Office
A spokesperson with the office confirmed that Spark was employed from 2004 to 2011.
The sheriff says there aren’t any plans to change operation procedure at the jail and he also isn’t charging the women who were involved with Spark.
“Just absolute unbelievable. I mean it is truly a new low for the legal profession,” said John Trevena, a Criminal Defense Attorney in Pinellas County.
“To think that something like that is going on with a licenced attorney who is supposed to be there defending someone.”
Investigators are waiting for a warrant to get into Spark’s iPad. They hope to find out the number of videos and websites where the content was believed to have been published.
Follow Corey Davis on Facebook
Follow Peter Bernard on Facebook
WHAT OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON RIGHT NOW:
