Ex-judge accused of spanking U.S. male inmates in his office
..and awarding them reduced jail time in return for sex
A former judge is facing life in prison after being charged with sexually abusing male inmates in exchange for leniency.
Respected circuit judge Herman Thomas, who was once the Democratic Party’s choice to be the first black federal judge in south Alabama, is accused of bringing inmates to his office and spanking them with a paddle.
His trial for charges of sodomy, kidnapping, sex abuse, extortion, assault and ethics violations is set to begin today.
The 48-year-old insists he is innocent and claims he was trying to mentor the inmates.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Nicki Patterson said authorities began looking at Thomas after he changed a jail sentence in 2006 for his cousin, former Mobile County school commissioner David Thomas, even though the case was being handled by another judge.
Other cases that Thomas had taken over from other judges without their approval soon surfaced, she said.