Judge suspended for courthouse affair with social worker

A Massachusetts judge who engaged in sexual acts with a social worker in his courthouse chambers will be suspended indefinitely, the state's highest court ruled Thursday, and may face removal from the bench.

The Supreme Judicial Court said Judge Thomas Estes' 'grave, willful and repeated wrongdoing' has damaged the public's faith in the judicial system.

'The sanction we impose is not severe because we seek to punish the judge severely, but because ... we seriously question whether he can command the respect and authority essential to the performance of his judicial function,' the judges wrote.

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