Middlesex County Judge 'Regrets' Scolding Married Man, Lover

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — A Middlesex County judge who judicial conduct officials say went on a "humiliating and demeaning" tirade against a married man, his wife and the man's girlfriend in court over naked photos is now facing a censure for his comments, according to the state Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct.

Judge Alberto Rivas may be censured after he verbally lashed out at all three parties during the 2013 hearing, and ended by telling the girlfriend "the only person (you) should send naked photos to is Hugh Hefner," according to the complaint.

The past Tuesday, Feb. 5 the state advisory committee recommended him for censure. Their complaint against Rivas is publicly available.

Rivas said he "deeply regretted" his remarks, and said he made them that day because he thought the girlfriend was using the court system to humiliate the man's wife.

Rivas also voluntarily agreed to undergo a sensitivity training.

In the 2013 case, the Middlesex County woman was seeking the return of several sexually suggestive photos she had taken of herself, which she sent to her married boyfriend.

However, the images were forwarded to the man's wife, the plaintiff in the case. The girlfriend sued, requesting the wife give her the photos back, as she was worried the woman might further disseminate them.

All three — the married man, his wife, and girlfriend — were in court for the verbal tongue-lashing Rivas dished out that day.

Rivas accused the girlfriend of lying to him when she said she didn't know where the wife worked. He also said he wanted to "whack" all three.

"I was born at night, not last night," he told the girlfriend, according to the complaint. "I'm telling you that now. I've been doing this for a number of years. Better people have attempted to lie to me, you're not that good ... If you're screwing him — let's be frank now because I should not be wasting judicial resources on this kind of malarkey. If you have been screwing him for these years, there is no question that you know where she works. That's how affairs work."

Rivas also told the girlfriend she should file a restraining order against the married man, to which she replied that she did not want to, as she didn't want to hurt his career as a corrections officer.

"All I want is the pictures," she insisted.

He then continued to insist she file a restraining order, saying "I'll give it right now," and called the man a "knucklehead" who "needs to be brought down a notch."

He then turned to the married man, saying "I wish you were up here, because I'm gunning for you ... you are despicable."

He then told the wife she should get a divorce from the man and "get half his pension."

Rivas then told all three parties: "If you three have not figured out that I'm here just dying to whack one of you, just dying to whack one of you, come back. Come back. Your mistake was coming into my courtroom."

Rivas then again called the man a "knucklehead," told all three they had gotten involved in a "deadly Bermuda's Triangle" with each other," and that "you two ladies have let yourself get played by this guy."

He ended by telling the girlfriend: "I will give you a piece of advice: The only person you should be sending naked photos to are Hugh Hefner. He will pay you a $100,000 for the use of them."

Rivas was charged with impugning the dignity of his job as a judge, humiliating and demeaning the people who brought the case before him, and creating the appearance of bias, the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct wrote this week.

His comments "went above and beyond the appropriate bounds."

"(Rivas) verbally chastised both litigants, as well as another individual in the courtroom, and demonstrated a lack of self control," wrote the state Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct, who also called his remarks undignified and discourteous.

“I regret the comments I made during the proceeding. I felt the court was being manipulated, but I let my feelings about the case influence my language, tone and demeanor, all of which were inappropriate," said Rivas in a statement.