Alabama Judge Charged in Prisoner Abuse Case

Former Mobile, Alabama judge Herman Thomas has been arrested in a bizarre criminal case alleging that he used the local jail as a type of personal stable of victims for beatings and sexual abuse. His lawyer — who goes by the moniker Robert “Cowboy Bob” Clark — has charged racism targeting the county first black judge.

The 57-count indictment alleges that Thomas committed kidnapping, sodomy, extortion, sex abuse and ethics violations. It lists nine former and current inmates, who Thomas allegedly had pulled from jail to beat them or have sex with them.

Calling this a “high tech lynching” Cowboy Bob insists “This is racism at its very finest. We ought to be proud we elected those bastards.” Cowboy Bob also says that he will challenge the restriction imposed by the court that Thomas say away from young men. The race charge has not played well thus far in Alabama.

The indictment states that Thomas singled out young men for “sexual contact, by forcible compulsion.”

In the meantime, the state bar has suspended Thomas’ license.

For the indictment, click here.

For the full story, click here.

This article was picked up from the ABA Journal.