‘COURTED’ & SEDUCED
Divorce att’y preys on me: gal
A Battery Park City woman had a torrid affair with her married Manhattan divorce lawyer — and the illicit pair’s attorney-client privilege included months of X-rated text messages and steamy bikini selfies.
Atesa Pacelli is now back with her hubby of eight years, and the couple is suing the lawyer, claiming he coerced her into sex.
Pacelli, 41, says in her suit that she hired lawyer Peter Cedeno, 48, in June to represent her in a “highly contentious” split from her husband, realestate developer Anthony Pacelli.
The $450-an-hour lawyer, who lives in Ramsey, NJ, immediately tried to “manipulate her into establishing a sexual relationship with him,” according to her Manhattan Supreme Court suit.
But more than 100 pages of text messages between the two show Atesa was interested in more than just his legal briefs.
Atesa responded to her lawyer’s come-ons with a half-dozen sexy photos, including one of her in workout clothes sent with the message: “Has my selfie game improved? You be the judge . . . on my way to ‘bang it out,’ as they say ; )”
Then, on Aug. 10, after a court hearing, Atesa and Cedeno got drunk at lunch and went back to her place, where the lawyer got naked on her bed while she was in the bathroom, the suit says.
After the encounter, Cedeno said he was “invigorated” by their not using birth control and complimented his client’s breasts, which she admitted were implants, according to the court documents.
On Aug. 18, Cedeno texted her, “Need a pic like right now,” and she replied with two bikini shots and wrote, “I need your lips on my nipples sometime in the near future.”
Cedeno tried to bed her another time, but she says she turned him away. He got jealous and tried to sabotage her attempts to reconcile with her spouse, the court papers say.
She cut things off and fired him on Aug. 22. She reported him to the state ethics committee on Sept. 29, the suit says.
The Pacellis are suing for unspecified damages, claiming malpractice, sexual assault and professional negligence.
Cedeno, through his lawyer, Michael Green, called the claims “outrageous and false.” He admits to having a sexual relationship with Atesa but says he did so only after she fired him.