Judge faces misdemeanor charges for alleged groping encounter with woman who testified in his court
A Pennsylvania judge is facing misdemeanor charges based on accusations that he groped and licked a woman who had testified in his courtroom when he came to her apartment under the guise of buying artwork.
The judge, 50-year-old Jeffrey Scott Joy of New Freedom, was charged with official oppression, indecent assault and harassment, report the Legal Intelligencer (sub. req.), the York Dispatch and the Philadelphia Inquirer.
York County’s president judge removed Joy from all judicial duties after charges were filed, but Joy was still being paid, the York Dispatch reports in another story. He had been removed from criminal cases during the investigation.
The complainant, referred to as M.C., had testified in a probation case involving her boyfriend. After the hearing, the woman told Joy she suspected child abuse was taking place in an apartment next to her.
The same day, Joy visited the woman’s apartment ostensibly to check out the child abuse allegation, the complaint alleged. During that visit, he allegedly asked M.C. about her financial situation and her workout routine. He said she had a nice body and hugged her before he left, according to the criminal complaint.
Joy called M.C. in March, and told her to report the child abuse, the document says. He also asked M.C. about her finances again and offered to go to her home to buy some of her artwork, the complaint says. At the apartment, he allegedly asked M.C. to put on stockings similar to those portrayed in the artwork.
The woman says she agreed because she feared Joy would treat her boyfriend more harshly in his case. M.C. alleged that Joy entered her bedroom while she was changing, groped her, and licked her breast.
Joy reported the suspected child abuse himself, police say.
Police say Joy claimed the contact was consensual, though he gave conflicting accounts about the encounter.
The complaint said Joy had also visited another woman who appeared before him, and had made inappropriate comments to yet another woman in court.
Joy, who is not a lawyer, was elected to his position as a magisterial district judge. He had previously served for 10 years as mayor of New Freedom. Joy’s lawyer, Chris Ferro, told the York Dispatch News that the allegations “are simply not true.”
“These false accusations are without merit and we look forward to addressing the charges in court,” Ferro said.
Joy will continue to be paid unless the Judicial Conduct Board acts, the York Dispatch says. District judges make about $88,000 a year.
Last paragraph updated at 11:35 a.m. to correct reference to Joy.
