Brussels (Dec. 18, 2008 – LAWFUEL) – Anthony Van der Hauwaert, a corporate mergers and acquisitions lawyer, has been named a European partner with global law firm Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P., effective Jan. 1, 2009. Van der Hauwaert is resident in the firm’s Brussels office and has been a member of the Brussels Bar since 1998.
“Anthony is a lawyer with exceptional experience advising clients on corporate and finance transactions throughout Europe, CIS and North Africa. His transaction experience also spans a wide range of industries,” said Brian N. Hartnett, managing partner of the firm’s Brussels office.

Van der Hauwaert focuses his practice on corporate and finance transactions, with particular experience in structuring, negotiating and documenting cross-border and domestic mergers and acquisitions. He also advises clients on private equity, project finance and real estate transactions. He has experience in various industry sectors including real estate, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, transportation and energy.

He received his LL.M in 1998 from The George Washington University and holds law degrees from Facultes Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix of Namur (FUNDP) and the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL).

WASHINGTON (LAWFUEL) – Richard Hendryx, 78, of Morristown, Ariz., pleaded guilty today to traveling in foreign commerce with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with children, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich and U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona Diane J. Humetewa announced.

During the plea hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michelle H. Burns, Hendryx admitted to arranging a two-day trip to Mexico in April 2008 in order to have oral sex with two boys under the age of 12. Unbeknownst to Hendryx, while placing telephone calls and sending e-mail messages to arrange the trip, he was actually communicating with undercover law-enforcement agents. Hendryx further admitted in his plea to e-mailing one of the agents a photo appearing to depict a boy performing oral sex on another male, and to paying cash in exchange for the trip to one of the undercover agents after traveling to meet the agent in person.

Hendryx’s sentencing has been scheduled for April 6, 2009. At sentencing, Hendryx will face a maximum of 30 years in prison, a lifetime of supervised release following his release from prison and a $250,000 fine.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney James Silver of CEOS, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sharon K. Sexton of the District of Arizona. The Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency conducted the investigation.