A New Jersey judge who argued that a teen rape suspect be given leniency because he is from a “good family” has resigned.
The New York Times reports that Monmouth County Judge James Troiano has resigned from his bench after court documents released earlier this month showed that he appeared to sympathize with a teen accused of raping an intoxicated 16-year-old girl at a New Jersey house party.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, the documents showed that the judge argued for giving the suspect leniency, saying that the “young man comes from a good family who put him into an excellent school where he was doing extremely well. He is clearly a candidate for not just college but probably for a good college. His scores for college entry were very high.”
The comments were reportedly made in 2018 during a court proceeding to determine whether the 16-year-old suspect should be tried as an adult. The accused assailant, who was identified only by initials in the court documents, allegedly sexually assaulted a visibly intoxicated teen girl and recorded the assault on video. He then allegedly sent the video to friends with a text message that read, “When your first time having sex is rape,” according to CBS News.
The judge also reportedly criticized prosecutors, saying that the accuser’s attorneys should have warned the alleged victim about the consequences the charges would have on the suspect’s future.
A spokesperson for the court told the New York Times that Troiano will keep his pension, which will amount to well over $100,000 a year.
According to CBS News, the judge had initially denied the prosecution’s request to try the case in adult court, but the decision has since been reversed.
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