A Fox News personality is denying claims that he sodomized and sexually assaulted another man 30 years ago while serving as a New Jersey Superior Court Judge.
Andrew Napolitano, aka The Judge, is the subject of a $10 million lawsuit filed by a South Carolina man who claims Napolitano abused him while he was a criminal defendant. The suit also alleges that Napolitano levied a lighter sentence against the man in exchange for his silence.
The story first reported by The Daily Beast identifies the plaintiff as Charles Corbishley, a cleaning services company owner in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Corbishley was facing three counts of arson stemming from an indictment handed down in 1987.
The suit filed in the Federal Court in the Southern District of New York said Corbishley’s attorney Robert A. Hollis, who allegedly was a friend of then-Judge Napolitano, made him plead guilty to the arson charges. He then instructed Corbishley to go over to Napolitano’s house in Hackensack, New Jersey, with a snow shovel and a Christmas Card.
According to Corbishley’s lawsuit, two days after the alleged assault at Napolitano’s house, Hollis told his client that he knew what happened between the two saying that “We both have him (Napolitano) now, don’t worry about anything.”
The lawsuit also details Robert Hollis’ legal troubles. In 1998, he pled guilty to federal money laundering charges for prostitution rings. Hollis reportedly was suspended from the New Jersey bar on multiple occasions, from 1982 to 1985, from 1993 to 1996, and for all of 1998.
Judge Napolitano imposed a light sentence, allowing Corbishley to avoid any jail time, instead, imposing a sentence of five-year’s probation, with 150 hours of community service.
The lawsuit notes: “By comparison, Edward Weedo—Mr. Corbishley’s co-defendant in the case, who was indicted on the exact same three criminal charges—was sentenced to several years in prison for committing the same crime.”
“These accusations are completely false. Full stop,” Napolitano said through his attorney Tom Clare. “I have never done anything like what the accuser describes, at any time, to anyone, for any reason. I have never had any personal relationship or inappropriate contact or communication of any kind with the man making this accusation. Each and every one of his claims against me are pure fiction. Period.”
It was unclear if the lawsuit will affect Napolitano’s on-air appearances.
