Court clerk gets 2 years for soliciting sex
By Associated Press | Friday, December 17, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Coverage
BOSTON — A former Massachusetts court clerk has been sentenced to two years in prison for seeking sexual favors from women facing prostitution charges.
James Burke was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Boston on two counts of deprivation of civil rights.
Prosecutors say the 43-year-old Burke, a clerk magistrate in Chelsea District Court, removed one woman from the lockup area, took her into a room in the courthouse and received oral sex after promising to help her with her case.
Burke threatened to lock up a second woman if she did not agree to his demands. She yielded in a locked room in the courthouse.
He is free on bail until he has to report to prison Jan. 14.
His lawyer says the women face some responsibility for his actions.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1303856
