On July 16th, Pittsburgh criminal defense attorney Paul Luvara was temporarily suspended by The Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. The suspension resulted from Luvara’s guilty plea to Attempted Corruption of Minors and Criminal Use of a Communication Facility.
In December of 2023, a nonprofit group reported Luvara for communicating with one of their decoy accounts whom Luvara believed to be an underage girl. The Clearfield County nonprofit creates fake identities on social media platforms posing as underage girls to monitor adults grooming minors for sexual exploitation. According to the leader, Luvara was sending sexually explicit messages to one of their decoys from mid-October to early December 2023.
Punxsutawney Police arrested Luvara on December 2, 2023 upon his arrival at a McDonald’s where he had arranged to meet up with the underage girl he had solicited for sex. Despite being originally charged with five felonies and two misdemeanor offenses, Luvara pled guilty to two felonies. In May 2025, Luvara was sentenced to serve 30 months to 7 years and required to register as a sex offender for a minimum of 15 years.
The CSE Institute applauds the Punxsutawney Police for their concerted efforts to protect vulnerable youth from exploitation by holding accountable commercial sex buyers. However, we believe the charges brought against Luvara fell short. Under PA law, individuals who purchase sex acts from minors can be charged with human trafficking. The CSE Institute believes Luvara should have been charged accordingly.
The widespread reach of social media has become a powerful tool for exploiters to groom and target vulnerable youth. Naming this criminal offense and correctly charging those like Luvara who solicit minors for sex is imperative to addressing human trafficking in Pennsylvania. Yet in the charges originally brought against Luvara, human trafficking was notably absent.
The CSE Institute urges prosecutors to fully enforce the law. While human trafficking statutes often focus on those who exploit others through force, fraud, or coercion, Pennsylvania law also holds sex buyers accountable for sustaining the trafficking industry. Purchasing sex from anyone under the age of 18 is a felony offense, regardless of whether the buyer knew the individual’s age or circumstances. In this case, Luvara believed he was communicating with underage girls and arranged to meet them to purchase sex acts. His actions directly contribute to the ongoing cycle of commercial sexual exploitation, positioning him as an active perpetrator rather than a passive consumer.
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.