A prominent Connecticut defense lawyer has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly obstructing a federal investigation of a former Christ Church, Greenwich, employee who recently pled guilty to possessing child pornography.

On Feb. 16, Kevin J. O’Connor, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that a grand jury had returned a two-count indictment against Philip D. Russell for tampering with evidence of potential interest in a federal investigation. Mr. Russell had been retained by Christ Church to advise it on terminating Robert F. Tate, who had served as the director of the church’s music program for the past 34 years.

According to the indictment, Mr. Russell and two unnamed church officials confronted Mr. Tate on Oct. 9 after a church employee found pornographic images of young boys two days earlier on a laptop computer owned by the church. Mr. Tate admitted ownership of the images.

After securing his resignation, the indictment states that Mr. Russell and the other two church officials permitted Mr. Tate to remove his belongings, including additional pornographic images of children, from an apartment he used on the church campus, and then helped him make arrangements to leave the state. Mr. Russell then “destroyed the computer with the intent to impair its integrity and availability for use in an official proceeding,” according to a statement by the U.S. attorney.

Mr. Tate subsequently fled to California and was later arrested in Los Angeles. On Jan. 22, he pled guilty to possessing more than 150 digital images of minors engaging in sexually explicit acts. He faces up to 10 years in prison at his sentencing on April 12.

Mr. Russell appeared before the U.S. District Court in Bridgeport and was released on a $100,000 bond. He does not dispute destroying the computer, but denies he broke the law, said Robert Casale, his lawyer. If convicted, Mr. Russell faces up to 40 years imprisonment.

It is uncertain whether other employees of Christ Church will be indicted. The U.S. Attorney’s Office notes the investigation is “ongoing” and is being conducted by the FBI and the Connecticut Computer Crimes Task Force. Several others at Christ Church have reportedly hired lawyers. The New York Times reported that Christ Church’s rector, the Rev. Jeffrey H. Walker, has been called before the grand jury at least twice.

In light of recent events, the Rt. Rev. Andrew D. Smith, Bishop of Connecticut, and Fr. Walker will lead a parish meeting to “provide information and explore how communities of faith heal from and move forward in mission and ministry when situations like the departure of Mr. Tate occur,” according to a statement on the parish website.

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