Post by Logan on Jun 21, 2016 19:44:30 GMT -6
Injustice: Investigators say Judge Joseph Boeckmann Jr. of Wynne abused his position to serve his sexual desires
It's a testament to how many wholly fallible human beings don a judge's robe and manage to do things right day after day that the allegations against former Cross County District Court Judge O. Joseph Boeckmann Jr. of Wynne rippled through the state, national and even international news when the story broke last November.
The case laid out in pieces by investigators with the state Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission is anybody's definition of damning, drawing on often graphic interviews with young men who came to Boeckmann's court, hard evidence in the form of checks Boeckmann paid to some of those young men and others, and a trove of over 4,600 digital photos recovered from Boeckmann's computer, ranging from the suggestive to the pornographic. Investigators with the JDDC say it adds up to an abuse of judiciary power that's almost unthinkable: that Boeckmann used his position on the bench to procure both fetishistic photos and sexual and sadomasochistic partners, preying on poor and vulnerable defendants who couldn't afford to pay their fines.
Just as disturbing was the fact that as the case unfolded, investigators with the JDDC began hearing from men who had dealings with Boeckmann when he was a deputy prosecutor in the area, including allegations that he was secretly asking for sexual favors in exchange for prosecutorial leniency as far back as the late 1970s. Some of those who claim they turned down Boeckmann's offers as young men still sit in prison today.
Boeckmann, who stepped down from the bench May 9, hasn't been charged with any crime. Through his attorney and in JDDC filings, he has repeatedly denied the allegations made against him. In Cross County, however, people say rumors of what was allegedly going on swirled for years, which raises the obvious question of why it took so long for it all to come to light.
Read more: www.arktimes.com/arkansas/injustice-investigators-say-judge-joseph-boeckmann-jr-of-wynne-abused-his-position-to-serve-his-sexual-desires/Content?oid=4454784
It's a testament to how many wholly fallible human beings don a judge's robe and manage to do things right day after day that the allegations against former Cross County District Court Judge O. Joseph Boeckmann Jr. of Wynne rippled through the state, national and even international news when the story broke last November.
The case laid out in pieces by investigators with the state Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission is anybody's definition of damning, drawing on often graphic interviews with young men who came to Boeckmann's court, hard evidence in the form of checks Boeckmann paid to some of those young men and others, and a trove of over 4,600 digital photos recovered from Boeckmann's computer, ranging from the suggestive to the pornographic. Investigators with the JDDC say it adds up to an abuse of judiciary power that's almost unthinkable: that Boeckmann used his position on the bench to procure both fetishistic photos and sexual and sadomasochistic partners, preying on poor and vulnerable defendants who couldn't afford to pay their fines.
Just as disturbing was the fact that as the case unfolded, investigators with the JDDC began hearing from men who had dealings with Boeckmann when he was a deputy prosecutor in the area, including allegations that he was secretly asking for sexual favors in exchange for prosecutorial leniency as far back as the late 1970s. Some of those who claim they turned down Boeckmann's offers as young men still sit in prison today.
Boeckmann, who stepped down from the bench May 9, hasn't been charged with any crime. Through his attorney and in JDDC filings, he has repeatedly denied the allegations made against him. In Cross County, however, people say rumors of what was allegedly going on swirled for years, which raises the obvious question of why it took so long for it all to come to light.
Read more: www.arktimes.com/arkansas/injustice-investigators-say-judge-joseph-boeckmann-jr-of-wynne-abused-his-position-to-serve-his-sexual-desires/Content?oid=4454784