A New Jersey judge is under investigation for dozens of TikTok videos that showed him lip-syncing along to popular songs, sometimes while at work or while wearing judicial robes.
According to a complaint submitted to the state's Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct, Superior Court Judge Gary N. Wilcox used an alias to create an account and post videos on TikTok. There are about 40 videos on his public account, posted between April 2021 and March 2023. Eleven of the videos "were inappropriate and brought disrepute to the Judiciary," the complaint said.
In some of the videos, Wilcox — using the pseudonym "Sal Tortorella" — lip-synced along to popular songs, including Rihanna's "Jump," Busta Rhymes' "Touch It" and other songs with "profanity, graphic sexual references to female and male body parts, and/or racist terms," the complaint alleges.
In one video, the judge allegedly stood in his chambers and mouthed along to the lyrics: "All my life, I've been waiting for somebody to whoop my ass. I mean business! You think you can run up on me and whip my monkey ass?" It's not clear what song those lyrics were from.
According to the complaint, other videos show Wilcox "wearing his judicial clothes and/or partially dressed while lying in bed." One video allegedly showed Wilcox walking through the courthouse dressed in a Beavis and Butthead T-shirt while "Get Down" by Nas played in the background.
The account appears to have been removed from TikTok. According to the complaint, Wilcox celebrated having 100 followers at one point.
The complaint said that Wilcox "exhibited poor judgment and demonstrated disrespect for the Judiciary and an inability to conform to the high standards of conduct expected of judges" by posting the videos. He also violated multiple judicial rules, the complaint said.
Wilcox has been practicing law since 1989 and has been a Superior Court judge since 2011. He presides over criminal cases in New Jersey's Bergen County.
According to the website for New Jersey's judicial system, ethics complaints against judges are investigated and prosecuted by the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct. Following an investigation, the committee may choose to dismiss the complaint, privately or publicly discipline a judge, or file formal charges against the judge. Private discipline includes informing the judge that the committee found evidence of wrongdoing and issuing "guidance, caution, admonition, reprimand, or censure" to them.
If a judge is publicly disciplined, the committee can recommend the state's Supreme Court dismiss the case, or offer "public admonition, public reprimand, public censure, suspension, or begin proceedings to have the judge removed from the bench."
His lawyer, Robert Hille, told the New York Times that he was reviewing the complaint and would file a response.
"These are mainstream performers," he told the New York Times, about the music cited in the complaint. "This is music that's out there in the public. And clearly it elicits a different response depending on who is listening."
Kerry Breen is a news editor and reporter for CBS News. Her reporting focuses on current events, breaking news and substance use.
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