Move over Jack Camp, America has a new worst judge.
Credit: George Mathis
Credit: George Mathis
Longtime readers will remember former Senior U.S. District Judge Jack T. Camp Jr. -- he got a whopping 30-day sentence after trading a public laptop for a private lap dance. The married arbiter of justice also paid the stripper for sex and snorted cocaine and synthetic heroin with her. He was arrested by federal agents after showing up at a drug deal with loaded weapons.
You have to be a total sleazeball to top that, but Arkansas Judge Joseph Boeckmann seems to limbo under the bar of human decency quite easily.
How low did the judge go?
Boeckmann is accused of swapping sex for reduced sentences. He resigned Monday after the state revealed it found thousands of nude photos of defendants on the judge's government-issued laptop.
The Cross County district judge was a busy man. Investigators report as many as 4,500 photos "depict young men, many naked who are in various poses inside the judge's home and outside in his yard."
Some photos depicted sex acts, but I won't go into detail since I want to keep working here.
Many of the men had appeared before Boeckmann as defendants, but it seems he preferred to administer his form of justice at home.
"There are numerous photos of naked young men bending over after an apparent paddling," investigators wrote in a letter to Boeckmann's lawyer. "Please accept this as notice to not destroy [or] otherwise dispose of this paddle."
The judge was busted after several men, including one under 18, reported appearing in court for minor violations and being given the judge's hand-written phone number and the offer to perform "community service" at his home.
One man said he had a sexual relationship with the judge while paying off his fine.
Another described his very weird experience to a local TV reporter.
Earlier this year, the judge argued the photos were required to "corroborate participation in community service."
Reports indicate there may be "100 or more" victims and judicial misconduct has been alleged since the 1970s.
The New York Daily News says "other allegations against [Boeckmann] included possession of child pornography and particularly poor treatment of minorities and women, whom he yelled at and called 'stupid' while presiding over their cases.
The results of the judicial investigation were given to a special prosecutor who could bring criminal charges. But, for now, the only formal punishment Boeckmann has received is losing his job and his paddle.
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