No guns involved so far (unless that turns out to be the means of coercion at some later point), but this was just an intriguing story, one which I thought posed some interesting opportunities for applying critical thinking.
District Court Judge Albert S. "Pat" Murdoch was arrested Tuesday, July 19, on charges he sexually assaulted a prostitute after an undercover officer bought a video recording of the alleged attack, according to a criminal complaint.
msnbc.com staff and news service reports State District Judge Albert S. “Pat” Murdoch, 59, was arrested Tuesday and charged with criminal sexual penetration and intimidation of a witness, NBC affiliate KOB-TV in Albuquerque reported Wednesday. He was released on a $50,000 bond overnight, it said.
A criminal complaint said the prostitute told police that she had visited Murdoch approximately eight times in his home after he answered an online personals ad and exchanged money for sexual acts.
She said that the first time she met him, he said he wanted to perform oral sex on her but she refused. But Murdoch nonetheless “forced himself on her to perform the oral sex,” according to the complaint.
A criminal complaint said the prostitute told police that she had visited Murdoch approximately eight times in his home after he answered an online personals ad and exchanged money for sexual acts.
She said that the first time she met him, he said he wanted to perform oral sex on her but she refused. But Murdoch nonetheless “forced himself on her to perform the oral sex,” according to the complaint.
It said she did so after she began posing hypothetical situations regarding a woman making allegations against him and he responded that “...he would use the police and his connections to take care of the situation," according to the complaint.
The prostitute also told police that she saw what appeared to be child pornography on the judge’s computer on another occasion, the complaint said. Albuquerque Deputy Police Chief Paul Feist told Reuters on Wednesday that investigators were “trying to determine if there were other people involved or other locations.”
No attorney was listed for on Murdoch, a veteran criminal judge, on the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court’s Web docket and calls to his home and office were not answered.
KOB reported that the Judicial Standards Committee was meeting to consider suspending Murdoch until the case is resolved.
Murdoch was due for his first court appearance on Thursday, but the Albuquerque Journal reported that the appearance was likely to be delayed by judges who have worked with the veteran judge recusing themselves from hearing his case.
Reuters contributed to this report.
First off, We have the highest Judge in the County of Bernalillo, soliciting Prostitutes on a regular basis. He regularly hands out jailtime and a lecture from the bench to the people he sentences to jail. He lectures Police and Sheriff Deputies on "Ethics" all the while laughing to himself that he is so corrupt and a pathetic lost soul hiding behind a robe. He has done this for years, it is finally out of control and out in the open. The FBI seized his computer so the massive extent of his depravity will be shortly identified. He is a little man in stature and character and needed the bench to give him power over people especially women. He is a sick individual to have unprotected oral sex with a prostitute. He will commit suicide rather than face not being able to wear his robe. I bet they let him retire instead of investigating every prostitute who came before him for a crime. He has solicited females who stood before him for judgment. He threatened to use his position and power with the police if some lowly prostitute attempted to turn him in.
ReplyDeleteFascinating. Thank goodness it doesn't happen too much, this kind of thing.
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