Boston lawyer to face assault charge in alleged groping at museum
A well-regarded Boston lawyer, Stephen T. Kunian, will be arraigned today on a charge that he assaulted a woman by groping her at an art museum party in December.
Kunian's lawyer argued that the case is an effort to get money from him, saying that the defendant, Gloretta Baynes, has asked for $500,000 in exchange for dropping the charges.
"The charges are nonsense. They are basically being put forward in an attempt to shake him down for money," said Kunian's lawyer, Richard Egbert , who added that the offer was rejected. "I don't make counter offers to shakedowns."
Baynes, an artist and museum curator, first made the charges on Dec. 15, about two weeks after the alleged episode at the opening party for the new Institute for Contemporary Art on the South Boston waterfront.
According to court papers, Baynes says Kunian "grabbed her jacket in the chest area, ripped open the jacket with his hands and exposed her garments and then repeated the same act, with his hands touching her breast area."
Kunian's version is starkly different. In court papers, he states that he encountered Baynes at the party and expressed admiration for her necklace, which was made of ornamental cowrie shells. "Mr. Kunian reached over to touch the necklace but immediately realized the impropriety of his action and apologized," according to the court filing by his legal team.
Yesterday, Baynes would not discuss the case, saying only, "I'm exhausted now and under a lot of stress."
Her lawyer, James Dilday , said, "She felt completely violated, like she was treated as a piece of meat."
Dilday said Baynes has sought counseling because of the alleged event. He said Baynes delayed filing charges because she was unsure how to go about it.
Baynes had sought to press a charge of indecent assault and battery, a felony that requires those convicted to register as sex offenders. But a Boston Municipal Court magistrate denied it, citing insufficient evidence. Instead, Kunian will be arraigned on a charge of simple assault and battery. Kunian will plead not guilty, Egbert said.
Dilday confirmed that he did ask Kunian's legal team for $500,000 about six weeks ago, and was told by a previous attorney for Kunian that the defendant would pay only $25,000. Baynes rejected that counter offer.
"They can call it a shakedown or anything they want. But if he kept his hands to himself he wouldn't be in this situation," said Dilday.
Kunian, a 1964 graduate of Harvard Law School, is a partner at the firm Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, specializing in business, banking, and real estate law. He lives with his wife in the Back Bay and is involved in numerous charitable causes, including prominent local arts organizations. 