Beren County Superior Court Judge Gary Wilcox was officially suspended for three months for posting TikToks that failed to “observe high standards and conduct” on hi since deleted account on the short-form platform, according to the New York Post.
Wilcox, who is also known online as ‘Sal Tortorella’, had a number of highly viewed posts between 2021 and 2023 where he was half-naked and, according to a 2023 complaint from the state’s Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct, Wolcox posted a video of himself lip-syncing a profane song inside of his judicial chambers.
Wilcox reportedly posted around 40 TikToks of this alleged inappropriate content.
The complaint also accused the judge of featuring lyrics with “drug and gang references,” as well as “derogatory and discriminatory terms”, while Wilcox’s lawyers said that the judge was simply having “innocent fun”.
“It was a simple exercise in what was believed to be innocent fun. He never intended any harm, let alone to himself or the judiciary,” his attorneys wrote. “Since this activity seemed like silly, harmless, and innocent fun, [Wilcox] opened his account out of curiosity to explore this new phenomenon.”
Wilcox, however, admitted that his actions brought “disrepute to the judiciary.” Wilcox’s official suspension was implemented on Tuesday, October 8th, 2024, and will continue until January 8th, 2025.
