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TULSA, OK---Convicted penis pump judge Donald Thompson thinks he should collect his $7,789 a month pension even though he's sitting in prison, serving his sentence for masturbating while presiding over jury trials including a murder case.
The Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System had issued a ruling to withhold Thompson's retirement benefits after he was found guilty in June at jury trial of four felony courts of indecent exposure.
They say his felony convictions violate his oath of office in which he pledged to support, obey and defend the Constitutions of the United States and the state and to faithfully discharge his duties as a district judge.
Court reporters, police officers and former jurors testified against former district court judge Thompson, 59, who had steadfastly denied the allegations.
He was sentenced to four consecutive one-year jail terms in August. Earlier this month, after serving only four months of the term, Thompson had sought parole and was denied by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board.
Thompson is appealing the PERS determination and a hearing which had been convened in the matter has been adjourned to Jan. 10 after a dispute arose whether several witnesses should be removed from the hearing and sequestered because they could be called as witnesses. Included are Thompson's wife, an attorney for the retirement system and the PERS director.
Thompson was not present at the hearing and his attorney asked for an adjournment so that he could obtain permission for Thompson to attend.
Thompson is appealing his convictions and continues to maintain his innocence. He claims the penis pump was a gag gift on his 50th birthday from a friend and despite witness accounts, including police officers, he claims he never used it and that his sentence is too harsh.
Thompson had filed a motion asking to remain free pending appeal but it was denied.
Prosecutors say that Thompson hasn't shown any remorse for his actions. Special prosecutor Richard Smothermon told the parole board that the ex-judge had turned down a plea deal which would have spared him prison time in exchange for a guilty plea to a single misdemeanor.
Thompson, a former state legislator, had been a judge for nearly 23 years before he retired in 2004 amid the allegations. He admitted that the penis pump was his but said it was a gag gift for his 50th birthday and had never been used. His attorney had admitted that Thompson had purchased another penis pump after a doctor who was treating him for erectile dysfunction and other medical problems had recommended it.
Thompson's attorney had claimed he wasn't guilty of masturbating on the bench as charged and said the local police were out to get his client because Thompson had made rulings unfavorable to them.
According to PERS, his retirement benefits from his public service before he became a judge, while he was a state legislator, are not affected by his conviction and he continues to collect them. Thompson argues the $7,789 in benefits he received for his service as judge from February 1982 until his resignation in August 2004 should continue until his appeals have been exhausted and he wants all the money that has been withheld so far to be reimbursed to him. 12-20-06
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© 2006 North
Country Gazette
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