A complaint has been filed against Bergen County Superior Court Judge Gary Wilcox, accusing him of recording "inappropriate" TikTok videos in his chambers at the courthouse and in bed, according to a bombshell complaint.
The complaint, filed by the disciplinary counsel for the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct, alleges that Wilcox, posting under the pseudonym "Sal Tortorella," released 40 public TikTok videos between April 2021 and March 2023, some of which contained profanity, references to violence, sex, and misogyny.
The complaint, which spans five pages, highlights 11 videos created by Wilcox that were found to be problematic due to their content, the location of filming (including the judge's chambers and the courthouse), and Wilcox's attire, which included wearing his judicial robes or being partially dressed in bed.
Some of the videos recorded in Wilcox's chambers reportedly contained graphic sexual references and racist language.
One video shows Wilcox lip-synching lyrics from Rihanna's song "Jump," including the lines: "If you want it let's do it. Ride it, my pony. My saddle is waitin', come and jump on it. If you want it, let's do it."
In another video, Wilcox, dressed in a suit and tie and posing in front of law books, lip-synchs the following text: "All my life, I've been waiting for somebody to whoop my ass.
I mean business! You think you can run up on me and whip my monkey ass? Come on. Come on!"
A third video shows Wilcox holding cash and pretending to light a match while lip-synching Miguel's hit "Sure Thing," which contains the lines: "If you be the cash, I'll be the rubber band. You be the match, I will be a fuse, boom.
Painter, baby, you could be the muse. I'm the reporter, baby, you could be the news. 'Cause you're the cigarette, and I'm the smoker. We raise a bet, 'cause you're the joker."
Wilcox's social media page, which has since been deleted, also allegedly contained a recording of the judge wearing a "Beavis and Butt-Head" T-shirt while walking through the courthouse to the tune of Nas' single "Get Down."
The song reportedly contains explicit lyrics concerning a criminal case, a courtroom shooting, derogatory and discriminatory terms, drug and gang references, and the killing of a doctor in a hospital who treated another gang member.
In another video, Wilcox smiles at the camera with text superimposed on the screen that reads: "When an ex-girlfriend calls you 'Santa' because of your new white beard."
The song "Touch" by Busta Rhymes plays in the background, including the lyrics: "For the record, just a second, I'm freakin' it out. While she tryin' to touch, see, I was peepin' it out. She turned around and was tryin' to put my d**k in her mouth. I let her."
During his time as a TikTok creator, Wilcox also released a video of himself wearing a "Freedom of Speech" T-shirt while lip-synching the lines: "Go ahead baby. You hittin' them corners too god damn fast. You gotta slow this motha****a down. You understand? I almost spilled my [Cognac] on this $200 suit."
Wilcox, a graduate of Harvard Law School, began practicing law in 1989 and served as a federal prosecutor before being appointed as a family court judge in 2011 by then-Gov. Chris Christie. In 2016, he was reassigned to adult criminal court and received tenure in 2018.
The complaint argues that by posting racy public videos on TikTok, Wilcox demonstrated poor judgment and disrespect for the Judiciary, failing to meet the high standards of conduct expected of judges.
He is now under investigation for violating three cannons of the Code of Judicial Conduct, which require judges to observe high standards of conduct, avoid the appearance of impropriety, and conduct their extrajudicial activities in a manner that does not cast reasonable doubt on their impartiality.
Wilcox has 20 days to submit a written formal answer to the complaint. After receiving the answer, the Advisory Committee will schedule a formal hearing.
If the panel finds that Wilcox violated the Code of Judicial Conduct, he could face disciplinary actions ranging from a public reprimand to removal from the bench.
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