A former Shelton attorney who pleaded guilty in January to a child exploitation offense has been sentenced to 13 years in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release.
Peter Kruzynski, 51, of Shelton was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven. He also agreed to pay the male victim $215,000 as part of a civil settlement.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Kruzynski used his mobile phone and text messaging to entice the victim, then under the age of 16, to engage in sexual activity in the attorney’s home.
In addition, on one occasion in December 2014, when the victim was 17 years old, Kruzynski used his phone to take photographs of the victim engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Kruzynski then threatened to send the photographs to others if the victim did not continue to engage in sexual activity or otherwise spend time with Kruzynski.
Kruzynski further threatened to use his status as an attorney to jeopardize the youth”™s future career hopes if he told others about the abuse. The conduct continued until August 2016, when the victim was 18 years old and reported the abuse to police.
In addition to the charge he pleaded guilty to, the former attorney had also been charged with the production of child pornography. That charge was dismissed during Kruzynski”™s sentencing.
Kruzynski was admitted to the Connecticut Bar Association in 1994. He was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on Sept. 16, 2016, and has been in custody since Oct. 24, 2016, when his bond was revoked for failing to comply with his release conditions.
In December 2016, he was suspended from the practice of law as a general practitioner on an interim basis following his arrest. He pleaded guilty to one count of enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity on Jan. 3 of this year.
