Victims outraged as judge seeks job back

Bakersfield Californian ^ | 1/7/05 | Erik Stetson - AP

[NormsRevenge]

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - A judge's bid to be reinstated after he was convicted of groping five women while drunk at a conference on domestic and sexual violence is sparking outrage among his victims.

Joan Sergio, one of the women groped by District Court Judge Franklin Jones, said reinstating him would send a message to victims that the state doesn't take sexual assault seriously and would imply alcohol abuse can excuse a crime.

"If he's reinstated, it's a crime in and of itself," Sergio said in a telephone interview Friday. "People are going to look at it and think the judicial system's a joke."

Jones grabbed the women's breasts and buttocks in May while attending the conference. Jones, who has said he was so drunk he doesn't fully remember the night's events, knew the women because they worked as victim advocates in his courtroom.

Both Jones and his lawyers have declined to speak with reporters.

Then-Attorney General Peter Heed was accused of inappropriately touching a woman at the same conference, which the state sponsored. Heed resigned, though an investigation subsequently cleared him.

Jones was suspended and avoided jail time by agreeing in September to plead no contest to five misdemeanor assault charges and to spend seven days in an alcohol treatment center, though he already had spent nearly a month in a treatment program. He is on probation.

Meanwhile, the state's Judicial Conduct Committee is conducting a hearing to decide whether he should remain suspended. His lawyers say he has been punished enough.

Jones' defense team packed the committee's hearing room with supporters Wednesday. The supporters, some of them women, included a state senator, police officers and prosecutors who praised Jones' performance as a judge and said one incident shouldn't end his career.

Victims and advocates called the show of support a travesty, particularly because participants included public officials responsible for arresting, prosecuting and sentencing sex offenders. Sergio and two other victims testified Wednesday.

[blogbat]

I'm surprised he hasn't had vacations to Thailand yet...

[taxesareforever]

A judge's bid to be reinstated after he was convicted of groping five women while drunk

The supporters, some of them women, included a state senator, police officers and prosecutors who praised Jones' performance as a judge and said one incident shouldn't end his career.

So groping five women is considered one incident. I wonder if this judge would consider it "one incident" if a robber in his court was charged with robbing 5 businesses on the same night.