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WARREN COUNTY, OHIO----Order in the court?
Not in Warren County, it was sexcapades in the courthouse with the judge not only engaging in an affair with a court officer half his age but also allegedly sexually harassing other female court employees.
Warren County judge Dallas Powers, originally charged with 13 felony and three misdemeanor charges as a result of an alleged steamy sexual relationship with a probation officer including sexual acts in court offices, has pleaded guilty to seven criminal charges and agreed to resign in order to avoid jail time. He was sentenced to three years of probation and cannot hold public office for seven years.
Charges had also been leveled against Powers' lover, 35-year-old Libbie Sexton, his former court probation officer.
Powers, 71, a judge for 27 years, has been receiving his full pay although he hasn't worked since August, 2004 when court employees began filing complaints against him.
As a part-time judge, Powers receives $37,500 from Warren County and the state pays him another $25,450.
According to Warren County prosecutors, Powers is the first judge in the state to be charged with sex crimes in the courtroom. Warren County is located in the southwestern part of Ohio.
Powers had been ordered on Sept. 26 to submit his retirement papers within two weeks with his retirement occurring no later than Dec. 31.
Powers and Sexton have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges accusing them of engaging in sexual conduct in courtroom offices. The duo also pleaded guilty to submitting pay sheets resulting in Sexton receiving overtime pay for hours she didn't work. Sexton, who is single, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted theft and no contest to two misdemeanors.
Powers additionally pleaded guilty to intimidation of court employees who would have been witnesses against him.
There are still three federal lawsuits pending against Powers, filed by former court employees who claim sexual harassment. The lawsuits allege that Powers used the courtroom camera to focus on women, tried to persuade another female court employee to engage in sex with him and Sexton and retaliated against employees who didn't provide him with sexual favors. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanors of intimidation and showing preference to a public employee and no contest to three counts of public indecency and two additional intimidation counts.
The litigation also alleged that Powers created a "hostile, offensive, intimidating work environment" by making repeated and unwelcome requests of employees to engage in sexual acts and being verbally abusive concerning women, women's bodies and women's attire".
Although Powers' attorney had instructed the judge to stay away from the courthouse until the case was resolved, after returning from Florida after Christmas vacation, Powers went to the courthouse and fired three members of the probation department where Sexton had been employed, claiming that they had been insubordinate. 10-21-05
© 2005 North
Country Gazette
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