Tallahassee, FL - A Florida judge will receive public reprimand and must retire at the end of his term after admitting to viewing pornography on the computer in his chambers.
Circuit Judge Brandt C. Downey III of Clearwater previously announced his intentions to retire at the end of his term on Jan. 1 but the Florida Supreme Court decided Friday that he also may not serve as a senior judge or seek appointment or election as a judge.
Downey, 60 was warned in the past by computer techs that his activity on the Internet could infect the computer system and told him to stop but he ignored the warnings. Courthouse personnel were also exposed to the pornographic images when they came in to erase the viruses from the computer.
He reportedly accessed the pornographic Internet sites from 2002 to 2005 during his 21 years on the bench. He was also accused of sexual harassment and evidence tampering, both of which he denied.
On September 22 Downey will receive his reprimand in front of the Supreme Court Justices. He must also sign a letter of apology to fellow judges and the public.
According to reports, some justices were concerned that Downey would continue to serve until retirement.
Justice R. Fred Lewis said, "It seems to me that the total function of the Judicial Qualifications Commission is to ensure to the public that when they walk into a courtroom that they have a judicial officer who is behaving as a judicial officer ought to behave."
