LAWRENCE — Robert LeBlanc, a defense lawyer well-known in local political and civic circles, faces an assault and battery charge because a female attorney alleges that he bear-hugged her and put his chin on her shoulder at Lawrence District Court, according to court officials and police.

An assistant clerk magistrate in Woburn District Court found probable cause for the charge this week, but the incident allegedly happened late last year.

Attorney Pamela Saia-Rogers, 39, told Lawrence police Officer Kevin Schiavone that she was chatting with three other attorneys on Nov. 18, 2008, in the lobby of Lawrence District Court at 8:45 a.m., when LeBlanc, 64, grabbed her from behind, "wrapped his arms around her midsection just below her breast and pulled her tightly to him pressing his pelvis against her backside" in a bear-hug, according to Schiavone's report.

"She states he stated aloud to the colleagues standing there, 'Isn't she a beautiful Republican?'" the report said. "Saia-Rogers stated she felt embarrassed and violated, but kept her composure due to the work setting she was in."

Both Saia-Rogers and LeBlanc are bar advocates who defend people who can't afford to hire attorneys. Saia-Rogers, who declined to comment last night, complained to the Essex County Bar Advocates the day of the incident. She went to the Lawrence Police Department with her husband, Haverhill police Lt. John Rogers, on Feb. 19, saying the Bar Advocates had done nothing about the matter, the report said.

Schiavone sought a charge of indecent assault and battery, and the case led to a show cause hearing in Woburn District Court Wednesday afternoon. Cases that involve people who work in local courts are typically moved to a court they don't normally work in.

The hearing lasted about an hour and a half, according to John Teeven, first assistant clerk magistrate in Woburn. After the hearing, Teeven found probable cause to issue a criminal complaint against LeBlanc for assault and battery, Teeven said.

An arraignment date has not been set yet, he said.

LeBlanc: Her 'story has changed'

LeBlanc, of Methuen, said Saia-Rogers' "story has changed since time has marched on since Nov. 18."

"I'm confident at the end of the day I will be vindicated, as I was yesterday," LeBlanc said.

LeBlanc and his attorney, Max Stern of Boston, said Saia-Rogers never mentioned the pelvis touching allegation when she complained to the Bar Advocates, nor when she spoke to attorney Robert Normandin, who investigated the incident for the Bar Advocates.

"In all the proceedings, from the beginning of this thing, she never said that until she went to see the Lawrence police," Stern said.

He said the fact that the clerk did not find probable cause for an indecent assault and battery charge was a win for him.

"Yesterday obviously was a huge victory and another will follow," he said.

LeBlanc said four lawyers testified at the show cause hearing "on my behalf." He identified them as Normandin, Alex Cain, Thomas Sheehan, and Paul Cahill.

Normandin said during an interview that Saia-Rogers didn't mention the pelvis pressing to him.

"The allegation of sexual in nature was not mentioned to me during my discussion with attorney Saia-Rogers or attorney LeBlanc," Normandin said.

Cain, Sheehan and Cahill did not return calls seeking comment late yesterday afternoon. Neither did attorney Anthony Ortiz, who witnessed the incident along with Cain and Sheehan, according to Saia-Rogers' statements to police.

Saia-Rogers: 'I was really embarrassed'

In an e-mail to the Bar Advocates, Saia-Rogers did not say LeBlanc pressed his pelvis against her, but she did say he put his arms around her waist, put his chin on her shoulder, gave her a "full-on body hug" and called her a "beautiful Republican."

"The pressing of the pelvis clearly didn't happen," Stern said. "What the undisputed evidence from all the witnesses who testified yesterday was that he came up, put his arms around her waist, put his chin on her shoulder and said, 'My favorite Republican.'"

Stern said the incident lasted no more than a few seconds.

"They're all standing around shooting the breeze, wearing winter coats," he said. "That's it. It's a non-event."

"I was really embarrassed and my fellow BAs gave me a bit of a razzing about it afterwards," Saia-Rogers wrote in her e-mail. "I really pride myself on being early for court, being prepared, doing an excellent job and being seen as an equal to the men in the court, and incidents like this only undermine all the hard work and respect that I've worked for and earned over the past seven years."

Normandin told the investigating police officer that he concluded an inappropriate touching did occur, and he passed on his conclusions to the Committee for Public Counsel Services, which in turn sent it to the Essex County Bar Advocates office, the police report said. A representative from the Bar Advocates could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Normandin said that while nobody alleged any pelvis pressing to him, the incident took place in a professional atmosphere and "should not have happened."

LeBlanc was Methuen's town manager from 1976 to 1980, serving as a town councilor afterward. He's a familiar face at political and charitable events, and he is involved with a bevy of community groups. His involvement includes being a past president of the Holy Family Men's Guild, a member of the Merrimack Valley Workforce Investment Board and deputy legal counsel for the Massachusetts Democratic Party.

Constance Vecchione, bar counsel for the Board of Bar Overseers, said the bar generally waits until the legal process is finished before deciding whether to discipline a lawyer.

"There's a wide range, from a public reprimand, to various types of suspension, to disbarment," she said, asserting that she's not familiar with the LeBlanc case. There could be no discipline at all, she said.