Editor’s note: This story was updated after publishing on Oct. 16, 2025 to correct information about the attorney’s previous employment.
A Berks County attorney who was suspended from practicing law as a result of criminal charges filed against him has been reinstated by the state Supreme Court.
Roarke Thomas Aston, 46, a former Berks assistant public defender, was reinstated Tuesday after serving one year of a three-year suspension that began in June 2024.
In returning Aston to active status, the court cited his compliance with the suspension order and the lack of any outstanding issues. He remains subject to the terms and conditions of probation outlined by the court in September for the remaining two years of the stayed suspension.
In November 2023, Roarke pleaded no-contest in Berks County Court to endangering the welfare of a child. Judge James M. Bucci sentenced him to two years of probation and ordered that he have no contact with the victim, among other conditions.
The charges were filed by Exeter Township police following a quarrel at his home in the township. Aston fled the home. He was stopped nearby and arrested for drunken driving.
While other officers were in the home investigating the domestic dispute, a female victim made allegations of abuse that was said to have occurred about 10 years earlier.
Aston pleaded guilty to the DUI charges — his second such offense — and was sentenced by Bucci to four days in Berks County Jail.
Originally Published: October 16, 2025 at 2:15 PM EDT