Three men who appeared in Cross County District Judge Joseph Boeckmann's court from 2009-13 filed civil lawsuits against him Tuesday, claiming that they were victims of sexual misconduct.
On Monday, Boeckmann, 70, agreed to resign and to never again seek public office. His resignation came amid an Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission investigation into allegations that Boeckmann had inappropriate sexual relationships with male defendants.
Boeckmann has not been charged with a criminal offense, but commission Director David Sachar said Tuesday evening that state police and federal authorities are investigating the case.
Boeckmann was elected judge in 2008. Filings by state judicial ethics officials indicated that Boeckmann's alleged inappropriate behavior dates back as far as the 1980s when he was a deputy prosecutor.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday afternoon in Cross County Circuit Court, alleges that the three plaintiffs appeared before Boeckmann on misdemeanor charges. In one case, a plaintiff, whose name was redacted in the lawsuit, said he entered into a "personal employment relationship" with the judge in 2013 while his court fines were still outstanding.
The lawsuit alleges that Boeckmann photographed the plaintiff naked and touched him.
The two other plaintiffs allege that Boeckmann photographed them in various stages of undress. One told authorities that he helped Boeckmann remove pornographic images from the judge's computer, the lawsuit said.
One of the plaintiffs alleges that he was a minor at the time of the offenses.
Little Rock attorney Gary Green, who represents the three, said investigators confiscated more than 4,000 pictures on Boeckmann's computer.
Documents released by the commission Monday stated that investigators found thousands of sexually oriented photos of men on the judge's computer.
"We are alleging sexual misconduct," Green said of the lawsuits.
Little Rock attorney Jeff Rosenzweig is representing Boeckmann.
"I've not seen the case yet," he said Tuesday evening. "I cannot comment on it. I will obviously get a copy of it, analyze it and file the appropriate response."
Each plaintiff claimed that Boeckmann fined him in court for traffic or other misdemeanor offenses, and then sentenced him to community service, which involved picking up aluminum cans at the judge's home or on city roads in Wynne.
Green said authorities found photographs on Boeckmann's computer of several men bending over while they picked up cans.
Boeckmann also wrote personal checks to some men in court cases, Green and Sachar said.
"Defendant's conduct was so outrageous in character, and so extreme in degree, as to go beyond the bounds of decency, and to be regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in a civilized society," Green wrote in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that the judge used his judicial status to "form personal and sexual relationships with certain male litigants."
Green also alleges that Boeckmann committed battery by spanking plaintiffs with a wooden paddle and invading their privacy by photographing them.
Green is seeking damages for "emotional distress" and for any other "damages allowed under state and federal law."
He has asked for a jury trial.
"Some [plaintiffs] did this because they thought they were supposed to," Green said. "[Boeckmann] picked on people who were not able to defend themselves."
State Desk on 05/11/2016