(Main photo by simpson33 via iStock / Getty Images Plus; seal courtesy State of Iowa)
The state of Iowa has suspended for three years the law license of an attorney recently convicted of a sex offense and stalking an 11-year-old child.
Adam Kehrwald, an Iowa-licensed attorney who also practices in South Dakota, was first sanctioned by the state of Iowa in March 2020 when he was given a private admonishment in the wake of a drunken-driving incident.
In April 2022, his license was suspended for 90 days in connection with alcohol-related crimes that included assault and harassment.
His license was reinstated in December 2022. Two months later, in February 2023, he entered a gas station in Pierre, South Dakota, where he worked part time.
“I was intoxicated,” Kehrwald later told the Iowa Supreme Court in a sworn affidavit. He said he approached a female employee of the gas station and made “unwanted sexual advances” toward her.
“I cornered her and began rubbing her hip by placing my hand under her shirt,” Kehrwald told the court. “After she moved away from me, I followed her and cornered her again. I placed a hand under (her) shirt and groped her.”
Court records indicate Kehrwald was charged with one count of sexual contact without consent, a misdemeanor. He was released on bond after promising to refrain from consuming alcohol and to enroll in a 24-hour sobriety program. In the weeks that followed, he reportedly failed to submit to testing on two occasions and failed one test.
He later pleaded guilty to attempted sexual contact without consent, served one day in jail and was fined $500.
In July 2023, Kehrwald was at a South Dakota gas station where, he later told the court, he was in a state of “severe intoxication.” He said that while he was at the station, three minors, including an 11-year-old girl, entered the business and he followed them. He stated that he approached the girl and, for reasons he didn’t explain, grabbed her by the wrist, and said, “You want the long way or the short way?”
After the girl purchased candy and left the store, Kehrwald said he followed her outside as she called her father to come pick her up. Once the girl’s father arrived, Kehrwald said, “I engaged in an altercation with him.”
The police were summoned and, according to Kehrwald’s affidavit, he submitted to testing that indicated his blood alcohol level was 0.255 – more than three times the legal limit for driving.
He was criminally charged with stalking a child under the age of 12, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to 180 days in jail, according to the affidavit.
Although Kehrwald’s Iowa law license has been suspended since last year due to his alcohol-related disability, his conduct in South Dakota and his criminal convictions recently prompted the Iowa Supreme Court to suspend his license for a minimum of three years.
Other Iowa-licensed attorneys who recently been sanctioned or charged by the Attorney Disciplinary Board with misconduct include:
— Anna Ryon of Des Moines, who was issued a public reprimand. The reprimand grew out of Ryon’s representation of multiple parties in Summit Carbon Solutions’ case before the Iowa Utilities Board.
According to the Attorney Disciplinary Board, between October 2021 and May 2023, Ryon worked at the state’s Office of Consumer Advocate where she participated, personally and in a substantial manner, in the controversy surrounding Summit’s proposed construction of a pipeline in Iowa.
In June 2023, Ryon began representing former U.S. Rep. Steve King of western Iowa, who was attempting to intervene in the case. In accordance with the Iowa Rules of Professional Conduct, Ryon sought permission from the state to represent King.
According to the Iowa Attorney Disciplinary Board, Ryon’s former supervisor at the Office of Consumer Advocate denied Ryon’s request for permission, but Ryon chose to continue representing King, filing papers in the case on his behalf, challenging the objections raised by the Office of Consumer Advocate, and taking on additional clients in the pipeline case.
The Iowa Utilities Board eventually found that Ryon lacked permission from her former employer to represent King and others, and that she was privy to confidential information gleaned through her employment at the Office of Consumer Advocate.
The utilities board ultimately concluded that while there was likely sufficient cause to disqualify Ryon from the case, it did not do so for fear of causing unfair prejudice to her clients.
— Rebecca Sharpe of Scott County, who represented the $2 million estate of Evelyn Haack in a probate case. When Haack died in February 2018, she left $100,000 to the St. Paul Lutheran Church Endowment Fund.
According to the Attorney Disciplinary Board, Sharpe never notified the church of its interest in Haack’s estate or delivered the money. The church did not learn of Haack’s intended bequest until January 2021 – almost three years after Haack’s death – when a former friend of Haack’s called the church to inquire about its receipt of the money.
Sharpe also is accused of failing to address the estate’s tax liability in a timely fashion, which led to a state-imposed interest and penalties on the estate totaling $224,984.
In addition, the board alleges that after the court granted Sharpe attorney’s fees in the case, she took $155,000 from the estate and went on vacation in Florida.
“Sharpe was only entitled to $89,709.29 of that,” the board alleges. “Sharpe converted $65,290.71 for her personal use without a colorable future claim to those funds.”
Sharpe is also charged with ethical violations related to her handling of an adoption and her client trust account. She has not yet filed a public response to the allegations. A hearing on the matter is expected to be held before the Grievance Commission of the Supreme Court of Iowa.
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