Chase Tristian Espy, a lawyer formerly working for Alabama governor Kay Ivey, has pleaded guilty to a child pornography charge, according to Associated Press. He was arrested in a case of child solicitation in August 2021. Espy was fired from his position soon after the arrest came to light. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.

Espy had engaged in chats on an online forum with an investigator whom he had presumed to be a 15-year-old girl. His phone was later seized and a number of videos and photographs of child sexual abuse were retrieved from the device.

Who is Chase Tristian Espy?

Chase Tristian Espy is a former lawyer for Alabama governor Kay Ivey. Espy is 36 years old. He earned an undergraduate degree in philosophy from the University of Alabama in 2007 and later enrolled in the University of Alabama School of Law, from where he earned his Juris Doctor degree in 2010.

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Espy began his professional career as a Judicial Law Clerk for the US Court of Appeals in August 2010 and left the job in August 2011. He then joined the United States Senate as a Legislative Counsel, and according to his LinkedIn profile, had advised former Senator Jeff Sessions as well as the Senate Judiciary Committee on a number of federal matters.

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From September 2012 to September 2020, Espy worked as a Senior Associate Attorney for the law firm Balch & Bingham LLP. Post this role, he worked as a self-employed attorney for eight months before being hired as the Deputy General Counsel for Ivey.

He was in the fifth month of his employment with the governor’s office when he was arrested for child pornography charges.