Cops: Judge Admits to Stealing Neighbor's Soiled Underwear

Neighbor is also his former intern
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 30, 2018 5:45 PM CDT
Cops: Judge Admits to Stealing Neighbor's Soiled Underwear
This photo provided by the Suffolk County Police Department on Friday, March 30, 2017 shows Suffolk County District Court Judge Robert Cicale.   (Suffolk County Police Department via AP)

A New York judge accused of breaking into a neighbor's home to steal her worn underpants pleaded not guilty Friday to a felony burglary charge, the AP reports. Robert Cicale, a Suffolk County district court judge, admitted he had broken into the woman's Long Island home several times and stolen underwear out of her clothing hamper, District Attorney Timothy Sini said. The 23-year-old woman once worked as an intern for Cicale when he was a town attorney. She was alone in the East Islip home Thursday when she heard a noise and saw a man running off, police said. The woman called her mother, who then called 911. When officers arrived, they found Cicale on the street carrying several pair of the woman's soiled undergarments, authorities said.

Cicale told investigators that on Thursday he "went into the house to take the panties again," according to court documents. It was unclear why Cicale at the time would have been carrying underwear he had taken on a previous occasion. The judge told the officers that he had taken the underwear during another break-in, Sini said. "This is very disturbing," Sini said. "In his confession, he noted he had urges to do this, to engage in this behavior." Investigators are still investigating to try to figure out how many times Cicale broke into the woman's home, the district attorney said. "He admitted he had gone into the home unlawfully on a few other occasions," Sini said. Cicale was "temporarily relieved of his judicial duties" and the matter was referred to the state's Court of Appeals to determine whether to suspend the jurist, a court system spokesperson said.

(More underwear stories.)

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