Alright, we all look for common qualities in people who are going to wear a black robe and be entrusted with the vast authority with which judges are imbued. We want our judges to be smart, have great temperaments, and be people of integrity. This last quality must be optional to the electorate in Wynne, Arkansas.
An investigation unearthed pornography on Wynne District Court Judge Boeckmann’s computer depicting “prepubescent males.” Additionally, Boeckmann is accused of “awarding community service to certain litigants based on gender” in which the judge offered “substitutionary sentences” to young men. Those sentences often involved picking up cans on the side of the road or at his residence. While they were picking up trash, “Boeckmann would photograph the buttocks of the men as they were bending to retrieve the garbage.” “Multiple male litigants have been photographed and Boeckmann maintained these photographs in his home for his personal use.”
Boeckmann’s “method of operation” was to seek out young white men, mostly between the ages of 18 and 35, who had criminal or traffic citations in his court. During meet-ups for “trash pickup,” Boeckmann is accused of soliciting “sexual relations” from the men in exchange for reductions in court costs and fees.
One witness, identified only as “A.A.,” was in jail for several days in 2001 when his girlfriend approached Boeckmann, then an attorney, for help, and Boeckmann asked if “A.A. was good looking?” For 10 years, A.A. worked for Boeckmann, was involved in a sexual relationship with him, and even had a room at Boeckmann’s home. In that time, Boeckmann bought A.A. two vehicles and a boat, and he also paid rent and utilities for A.A.’s family. If this benevolence wasn’t enough, Boeckmann even engaged in “spankings” with A.A. whenever A.A. got into trouble.
I doubt that Judge Boeckmann will run for re-election as he was accused by a state disciplinary panel of multiple violations of the judicial code involving a wide range of offenses, including lenient rulings for sexual favors from younger male offenders, possessing child pornography and verbal abuse of people in his courtroom.