George Wittlinger, veteran judge of 87 years, ended his career in New York, resigning in the midst of a scandal over allegations that he bribed a minor to grant himself and his son sexual favors.
Wittlinger, who had been an Ancram Municipal Court judge since 1999, quietly resigned last 31 December after the Conduct Commission Judicial (CJC) notified him that it was investigating allegations that he had encouraged a minor to have sexual relations with his son, a watchdog group announced yesterday.
The commission began investigating the matter after that the alleged victim file an explosive $7 million civil lawsuit against the judge and his son Daniel Wittlinger in Columbia County (NY), alleging that the judge not only pressured her to have a sexual relationship with her son, but also offered him money to be “cari “with himself.
The case was dismissed in October after the accuser stopped appearing in the case. His former attorney, Michael Sussman, told the New York Post that his client “was terrified to proceed and the lawsuit basically had to be dropped. ”.
Sussman added that although the alleged victim identified as “PT” stopped cooperating, he is happy that “someone has started to investigate”.
PT stated that the judge frequently got her drunk, encouraged her to sleep with her son and also once offered to pay her to “caress” him himself. He also watched the teens having sex more than once, the suit alleges. The teenager added that the judge’s son used to videotape his intimate moments with her, and that he once raped her when she was completely drunk.
As part of the agreement that Wittlinger signed with the CJC, he said that he will never hold a position as a judge again, and with this the investigation was closed. At the moment he does not face further legal action since the civil lawsuit was also dismissed.