Larry Arata seen here in 2021, used his connections with a nonprofit helping people in recovery to engage in sexual relationships with women seeking help for their opioid addictions, police said. Read more ALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ / Staff Photographer

by Vinny Vella Published Nov. 19, 2025, 3:20 p.m. ET

After losing his son to a heroin overdose in 2017, Lawrence Arata devoted his life to helping people in addiction, f ounded an Upper Darby nonprofit to further that mission, and even ran a failed congressional campaign in which the opioid crisis was his tent-pole cause.

But behind the scenes, prosecutors in Delaware County said Tuesday, Arata twisted that mission, trading cash, gift cards and other services from his nonprofit, the Opioid Crisis Action Network , for sexual

See Full Page