ATLANTA, GA - A married federal judge frequently had sex with a "prominent" law enforcement officer in the courthouse, reportedly subjecting clerks to "kissing sounds" and "moaning."
The 11th Circuit judge, who is not named or identified by gender, lied about the whole affair after allegedly hooking up with the officer during working hours in their private chambers for two years, the New York Post reported.
The location of the court was not revealed, however, the 11th Circuit covers districts in Florida, Georgia and Alabama. Details about the affair were laid out in a 22-page judicial complaint in which the judge was given a "private reprimand" and ordered to write letters of apology to six law clerks.
At least three former clerks overheard the encounters, which staff members said distracted them from work and made them highly uncomfortable.
The sounds of intimacy were so unsettling that one clerk reported being unable to sleep or focus, while another clerk was so deeply disturbed by what they heard that they actually packed up and left the courthouse for the day. Clerks also discovered what appeared to be a semen stain on the couch in the judge's chambers, though it tested negative.
"Law Clerk A was concerned about how the Subject Judge’s conduct, if it came to light publicly, might adversely affect the public’s view of the judiciary,” reads the report. "Law Clerk C said that the clerk was made ‘very uncomfortable’ by what the clerk heard coming from the judge’s office,” it continued.
"Law Clerk B stated that the clerk was so unsettled by the noises the clerk heard that the clerk had to leave the office for the day." The judicial complaint from February was later confirmed by the Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability of the Judicial Conference of the U.S. on Friday, May 22.
The officer is a "high-ranking" division commander within the judge's district, which left the judge vulnerable to extortion because their spouse was not aware of the affair, the committee said. It also raised the possibility of a conflict of interest because the police department was involved in civil and criminal litigation in the district.
"Although the special committee did not find any instance of the subject judge presiding over a case in which either the officer or the police department was a party or a witness, the special committee found that this was due to ‘happenstance’ rather than the subject judge’s efforts to mitigate any potential conflict,” the committee said.
The report also noted that the judge initially denied the affair, slamming the allegations as "outrageous" and "baseless," before eventually confessing that the affair was real.
In addition to the in-house reprimand, the judge has agreed to forgo serving as chief judge and avoid serving on any judicial conference committee.
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