[Stone Mountain]

If the kid was exploited by his parents as you speculate despite their denials, forcing his apology is a more exploitive act on the part of the judge.

Interesting point. I've never really been a fan of forced apologies anyway. An apology is only real if one means it.

[AmishDude]

It seemed to me that the judge was forcing the young boy to genuflect at his bench. I'd advise the judge to take the backhanded apology and "move on".