Federal Judge Samuel Kent Indicted on New Sex and Obstruction Charges
Updated: Already facing an unprecedented criminal case concerning his alleged harassment of his former case manager, U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent was reportedly federally indicted again late today on new sex charges relating to his alleged mistreatment of another court worker.
Kent was also indicted for obstruction of justice today concerning his testimony before a judicial disciplinary panel about his conduct with the unidentified court worker to whom the new sex charges relate, reports the Houston Chronicle.
The newspaper article doesn’t include any comment from Kent, but he and his counsel, in the past, have repeatedly denied the earlier sex charges made against him. (Kent’s lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, indicates that the new charges are “absolutely untrue” in a more recent Chronicle article discussed in a subsequent ABAJournal.com post.)
Kent, who sits on the federal trial court bench in Texas, is expected to be arraigned on the new charges tomorrow. They include: aggravated sexual abuse, abusive sexual contact and obstruction of justice, the newspaper reports.
He is currently scheduled to go to trial on the earlier charges on Jan. 26, before Judge Roger Vinson, a senior U.S. District Court judge from Florida who is overseeing the case, the Chronicle says. It isn’t yet clear whether the new charges will delay the scheduled trial.
Earlier ABAJournal.com coverage:
Federal Judge in Texas is Indicted in Employee Sex Abuse Case
Federal Judge Pleads ‘Absolutely, Unequivocally Not Guilty’
Gag Order Implies Private Hearings for Federal Judge in Sex Abuse Case
Updated at 12:08 p.m. Jan. 7 to include link to subsequent ABAJournal.com post and Chronicle coverage.
