Democrat Judge Goes on Trial for Spanking Inmates, Allegations of Gay Sex

Naturally, any accusation made against this judge is raaaaacist.

He was once a revered judge, an African-American Democrat repeatedly elected in an Alabama county that was predominantly white and Republican.

But then came the scandal - and Herman Thomas' world turned upside down.

Thomas, former Alabama Circuit Court judge, stands accused of sodomy, kidnapping, sex abuse, extortion, assault and ethics violations, AOL News reports. The trial starts on Monday.

The first charges against Thomas surfaced in 2001 when an inmate claimed that Thomas offered to help with the case in return for sex. Those charges were dismissed. But that wasn't nearly the end of it.

Inmates then began claiming that Thomas forced them to strip down to their underwear and then spanked them. Others claimed he forced them to perform sex acts.

More here.

Some inmates in those cases described being checked out of the jail for meetings with Thomas in his car or in his private office in the county courthouse. First, there were reports of inmates having to pull down their underwear for spankings with a wooden paddle. Then came allegations of oral and anal sex, according to court records.

Retired Mobile County Circuit Judge Braxton Kittrell said people thought Thomas' personal interest in the defendants was a positive.

"Everyone thought he had a lot of concern for people who got into criminal difficulty. All of this was a surprise to everyone," he said.

Defense attorney Robert "Cowboy Bob" Clark calls the accusers "lying felons" who are trying to wreck the career of "a prestigious member of the Bar for over 20 years." The NAACP has defended Thomas and claims race is behind his prosecution.

That silence you hear is the leftwing blogosphere studiously avoiding this story.

Of course the racism charge falls to pieces when you consider his accusers are all black.

Race sometimes works, but this doesn't seem like that kind of case — especially since all of the accusers are black — so Clark's also working another angle: the statute of limitations on the allegations, the last one of which took place in 2007, has expired. Prosecutors, however, aren't budging. In fact, they're just throwing on more fuel on the lurid fire.