When the Pennsylvania Supreme Court last week agreed to suspend a man’s law license for three years after he was caught sexting with his client’s minor daughter, some in the legal community questioned whether the sentence was too lenient. However, according to several ethics attorneys, the punishment may be harsher than it seems, and could signal that the state Disciplinary Board is taking matters involving sexual misconduct more seriously than before.

On May 9, the justices agreed to suspend Scranton attorney Jeffrey Toman‘s law license for three years after he pleaded no contest to conduct including sending the 14-year-old victim a picture of his penis. The victim, according to court documents, was not only the daughter of a client, but she was also the subject of the custody battle that the attorney had been hired to handle.