Jacques E. Strapp
Talmudic Tango En Banc
Tue Oct 21 12:55:33 2003
12.37.44.71

French Judge Masterbates
Under Robe In Courtroom
10-20-3

BORDEAUX, France (Reuters) - A French judge was placed under official investigation for "sexual exposure" in a courtroom, prosecutors said on Friday, after a newspaper reported the judge masturbated while a lawyer pleaded her case.

The 39-year old judge masturbated for several minutes on Wednesday while listening to a female lawyer addressing the court in a case dealing with a dispute between neighbors, regional paper La Charente Libre said.

One of the paper's reporters saw the judge "making unambiguous gestures after discretely lifting his judicial robe and opening his trousers," it said.

The judge was temporarily suspended from his professional duties and examined by a psychiatrist, a prosecutor in the southwestern town of Angouleme said.

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• Proof Is In The Pudding... — Pichai Chuen, Tue Oct 21 13:04