Sunday, December 2, 2012

Illinois Judge Facing Disciplinary Action Over Viewing Porn at Work Admits Longtime Addiction

An Illinois judge facing disciplinary charges for viewing pornography on his courthouse computer has tearfully admitted being addicted to porn since childhood.

"I used pornography as a crutch to deal with my feelings of inadequacy," Will County Judge Joseph C. Polito told the Illinois Courts Commission at a hearing Thursday, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. "For 60 years this was an inner conflict–I was ashamed, I didn't feel good about it and tried to stop. The only way I knew to address it was in a confession with a priest."

Polito, 69, was charged in July with two counts of violating the state's judicial code of conduct after an article in the Sun-Times revealed that he regularly looked at pornographic websites on his office computer.

He admits the first charge, that his actions "brought the judicial office into disrepute," but denies the second, that he had not conducted himself in a manner that "promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary."

Polito told commissioners that while he had looked at porn in his chambers before his court call began and after his court call had ended, it had "absolutely no effect on the hundreds of decisions" he had made as a judge.

Source:
Illinois Judge Facing Disciplinary Action Over Viewing Porn at Work Admits Longtime Addiction

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pretty sickening. If judge Joseph C. Polito actually cared about justice, he'd have sought help earlier and recused himself as a judge until he got it.

Thank you for posting, NASGA.

Barbara said...

How pathetic.