Ohio: A former Ohio attorney who authorities say hypnotised unwitting female clients for his sexual gratification was sentenced Monday to 12 years in prison.
Michael Fine was sentenced in Lorain County after pleading guilty in September to kidnapping and attempted kidnapping charges involving six women. The judge ordered Mr Fine, 59, classified as a registered sex offender.
Defense attorney Robert Housel said Mr Fine has had difficulties in his life, voluntarily gave up his law license and acknowledged what he had done by entering guilty pleas.
Authorities say Mr Fine’s criminal activities were exposed in 2014 after a client who suspected she’d been hypnotised recorded two telephone conversations during which Mr Fine used explicit sexual language before ending calls discussing legal matters. Publicity prompted other women to contact authorities with their suspicions.
One woman told authorities she thought Mr Fine hypnotised her numerous times on the phone and during meetings in his office and at conference rooms at the Lorain County Justice Center. She said she hired Mr Fine in February 2013 for a custody dispute.
The woman decided to record phone conversations with Mr Fine and then took those recordings to police. Court documents filed later by the Lorain County Bar Association said the recordings included when he placed the woman in a trance. The documents were included in the bar association’s motion filed in November 2014 seeking an emergency suspension of Mr Fine’s law license. The woman told investigators she didn’t go to police as she feared not being taken seriously, according to the motion.
