A 20-year-old reality TV show star has been branded a prostitute after being found in a car with an allegedly drunken 54-year-old man.
Alicia Guastaferro, who appeared on Wife Swap as a teenager with her parents, was a passenger in defense attorney James Doyle’s car when police were alerted to his ‘erratic’ driving in Rochester, New York.
Deputies gave chase and eventually caught up with them at a service area, with Doyle slumped over asleep at the wheel.
He was arrested and charged with DWI, patronizing a prostitute and giving alcohol to a minor, adding to two previous drunk driving charges which each ended in convictions to the lesser charge of driving while impaired, according to democratandchronicle.com.
Guastaferro was charged with prostitution, possession of a controlled substance and criminal impersonation. She confessed to having sex with the lawyer in exchange for money, Radar Online reported.
She allegedly told officers Doyle calls on her twice a month, paying between $500 and $700 per session. She also admitted they had both been drinking alcohol before Doyle got behind the wheel.
Despite failing a police sobriety test Doyle denies all charges, claiming he merely stopped at the rest station because he was tired.
Charged: Alicia Guastaferro (left) was arrested on prostitution charges after being caught with an allegedly drunken James Doyle (right) in his car at a rest stop.
He said he feels bad about the involvement of the teen star, whose family he has known for several years.
‘I’ve been accused of allegations that are lurid, salacious and demonstrably false,’ he told Rochester YNN.
‘I was tired. I wanted to rest and that’s exactly what I did. Within 10-15 minutes, there was banging on my window. I was taken out of my car.’
He added that there was ‘absolutely nothing of a sexual nature with respect to our encounter, whatsoever, at all.’
Faced with Guastaferro’s allegations Doyle told Whec.com they were ‘just essentially wrong, factually and morally wrong,’ adding that they were ‘harmful and I wanted to set the record straight.’
Guastaferro made headlines in 2010 when she filed a $100 million lawsuit against ABC over claims the network represented her in a bad light when she appeared on Wife Swap in 2008.
She said her portrayal led to suicidal tendencies and anxiety, adding that she was subject to “incessant verbal and physical assaults from her peers’ following her appearance.
A former beauty queen, Guastaferro said she was forced to recite obnoxious lines for the show including ‘I am the most popular girl in school,’ and ‘I do feel sorry for people that are not gorgeous people.’
She was aged 15 at the time of the filming. Her lawsuit is still pending.
