Former Los Banos School Board Trustee Busted: Abuse Arrest, Sex Claims Erupt

A Merced County defense attorney who is a former Los Banos school board trustee was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of spouse abuse, according to officials and jail records.

Dominic Falasco, a 51-year-old Los Banos resident who recently regained his status with the State Bar of California, also faces a civil suit claiming he solicited sexual favors for client representation, allegations brought to light last year by defense attorneys in a public corruption case in which Falasco is a key witness for prosecutors.

Falasco on Thursday declined to comment on the civil complaint or his arrest, referring questions to Shawn George, a Los Banos attorney. George did not immediately respond to messages left Thursday afternoon.

Los Banos police responded to reports of a domestic violence dispute shortly after 3 p.m. on Monday in the front yard of a home in the 900 block of J Street in Los Banos, Cmdr. Ray Reyna said.

By the time officers responded, the male subject involved in the dispute, identified later as Falasco, had left the scene, Reyna said. The female subject, identified as Falasco's wife, was at the scene with a minor child.

Falasco and the female subject, identified as his wife, had both told police during the investigation that there was a domestic violence dispute between them, Reyna said. Police also spoke with two adults who said they had witnessed the incident from across the street. 

Falasco's wife, whose name wasn't released by police, did not suffer visible injuries, according to police.

Police spoke with Falasco Wednesday morning and he turned himself in, Reyna said. Falasco was arrested and booked into the Los Banos Police Department Jail at 10:42 a.m. Wednesday on suspicion of misdemeanor spousal abuse, according to Merced County jail records. He also was served with a temporary restraining order, police said. 

Falasco posted a $10,000 bond and was released an hour later, jail records indicate. Reyna said the police department is referring police reports to the Merced County District Attorney's Office.

Earlier this year, Falasco's law license was suspended by the California State Bar due to a failure to pay child support. State Bar records state his license was suspended on Jan. 23, but it was reinstated on Feb. 6.

The State Bar doesn't comment on ongoing investigations and will not verify or deny whether there is an investigation into any matters, spokesman Jonah Lamb said, adding that he couldn't comment or speculate on how Falasco's spousal abuse arrest could affect his law license. 

Falasco's arrest also comes weeks after a civil lawsuit was filed against him on March 29 claiming he traded sexual favors for representing a woman's boyfriend in a violation of probation case.

According to a civil complaint filed in Merced Superior Court and obtained by the Sun-Star, Melissa Lucio, a 37-year-old mother of five children, attempted to obtain legal representation for Felipe A. Vega, with whom she has a long-term relationship with. Vega was facing a violation of probation charge. 

At the end of March 2016, Lucio met Falasco at his office to see if he could represent Vega in an upcoming hearing, the complaint states, adding that discussions included Falasco accepting controlled substances as partial payment in a verbal agreement that wasn't documented. 

The complaint states that Falasco "began engaging in a pattern of sexually harassing conduct, intimidation, unwelcome visits and drug use designed to force Lucio into submitting to demands for sexual favors as payment for the outstanding fees," the complaint states. 

Some of those allegations include claims that Falasco went to Lucio's house to smoke methamphetamine "between court appearances," and talked with Lucio regarding having her and her friend perform sex acts with him.

Falasco pleaded guilty in September last year to misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance from a separate incident, according to the Mariposa County District Attorney's Office.

After Lucio refused Falasco's advances, according to the complaint, Falasco failed to show up at two of Vega's hearings. During the second hearing on April 14, 2016, Lucio informed Judge Jeanne E. Schechter, a court commissioner at the time, about Falasco's conduct.

The complaint states she also reported the conduct to a Merced County Sheriff's Detective, but no official action was taken against Falasco. 

Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse II previously told the Sun-Star that the claims against Falasco weren't credible, which is why his office didn't investigate them.

Lucio and Vega's attorney, Fresno-based Virna L. Santos, in a phone call with the Sun-Star Thursday verified the alleged facts in the complaint but she declined to comment on anything else, noting that the complaint's information already was reported publicly.

On March 6, 2017, a defense attorney representing Merced County contractor Greg Opinski in a corruption case filed a motion detailing Lucio's allegations.

Opinski and former Los Banos Unified School District trustee Tommy Jones have pleaded not guilty to multiple bribery charges. They are accused of bribing Falasco, who also was a trustee at the time, $12,000 in return for his vote to award the construction manager contract to Opinski's development firm, among other votes.

Opinski's attorney, Fresno-based Jeff Hammerschmidt, said the allegations impugn the credibility of Falasco, who reportedly wore secret recording devices to obtain evidence of the bribery for the Merced County District Attorney's Office's 10-month investigation. Falasco is considered a key witness for county prosecutors. 

In response to Hammerschmidt and Opinski's motion, Falasco at the time denied wrongdoing and characterized the allegations as a public smear campaign, calling them "completely untrue" and stating that the allegations are "going to damage my reputation and my family."

Falasco said the claims were investigated by the State Bar and there was no resulting disciplinary action. Falasco's attorney profile on the State Bar's website doesn't indicate any disciplinary action prior to his suspension for failure to pay child support.

Article Originally Published At: https://www.mercedsunstar.com/news/local/crime/article209364409.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com