Judge Dawn Gentry, from Kentucky, is accused of pressurising lawyers into having group sex with herCredit Facebook Judge Dawn Gentry public official

 

A young female judge on a $A200,000-a-year salary has been slapped with nine misconduct charges after being accused of engaging in group sex inside court chambers.

The stunning allegations involve Dawn Gentry, a 38-year-old Family Court judge from Kenton County in Kentucky in the US, who was elected to the high-profile position in November 2018.

She is now being investigated by the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission – the only body that is able to penalise a sitting judge.

It has been alleged she let staffers drink at work and drank alcohol herself on the job, had threesomes inside court offices and gave preferential treatment to lawyers who had sex with her.

She is also accused of promoting people who donated to her re-election campaign – and punishing those who did not.

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, which broke the story, lawyer Katherine Schulz claimed to have quit after Gentry allegedly flirted with her over social media platform Snapchat and also asked her to seduce the judge’s former husband, so she could accuse him of being unfaithful.

The judge also allegedly propositioned the lawyer with a threesome with her ex-pastor lover Stephen Penrose, who she had hired.

The charges also allege the judge had a threesome with her secretary Laura Aubrey and Mr Penrose in a courthouse office, and she falsified time sheets for employees.

The judge has been charged with coercion to participate in judicial campaign, retaliation for failure to support judicial campaign, facilities and time sheet falsification, retaliation against school employees, ex parte communication with guardian ad litem (GAL) panel members, harassment and retaliation against Katherine Schulz, inappropriate hiring and relationship with Mr Penrose, hiring and appointing court staff not based on merit and failure to be candid and honest with the commission, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Mum-of-two Gentry, 38, is alleged to have favoured lawyers who were receptive to her sexual demandsCredit: Kentucky Court

The publication also spoke with lawyer Mike Hummel, who said his own clients were disadvantaged after he didn’t donate enough cash to the judge’s political campaign.

“This isn’t just little bullsh*t that happens behind the scenes in every county … This is someone abusing power to affect the lives of others,” he said.

An official document known as a Notice of Formal Proceedings and Charges, which has been seen by news.com.au, was released last week outlining details of the charges after an investigation was first launched last month.

The Notice of Formal Proceedings and Charges claims the judge “engaged in a pattern of conduct that constitutes misconduct in office and violates the Code of Judicial Conduct”.

“Any of the counts … on their own, constitute sufficient grounds for disciplinary action. But examined as a whole, the allegations in this notice demonstrate a pattern of misconduct in office,” it states.

The document states the judge is also accused of allowing her lover Mr Penrose to “spend work hours” singing and playing the guitar and “disrupting other court employees”, letting staff consume alcohol on the job and drinking alcohol herself at times, and bringing her children to work with her and allowing them to witness a “confidential proceeding” that violated the confidentiality of proceedings in a family court case.

It also details “inappropriate and unwanted sexual advances” towards Ms Schulz, including Snapchat conversations that were “sexual in nature” and claims the judge hired Mr Penrose because of their “personal sexual relationship” and “not on the basis of merit”.

“You also engaged in sexual activity with Mr Penrose and Ms Aubrey in a courthouse office, during work hours,” it states.

The judge has denied all charges against her.

She will face a disciplinary hearing in the coming months, and is facing the prospect of being removed from office.