N.J. Municipal Judge Inappropriately Touched Employee, Complaint Alleges

By Sophie Nieto-Munoz, New Jersey Monitor

April 13, 2023

A New Jersey municipal judge is facing charges of violating judicial conduct rules after a law clerk reported he inappropriately touched her leg, according to a complaint filed by a state Supreme Court committee.

The complaint, filed Monday, alleges Judge R. Douglas Hoffman violated the code of conduct by drinking alcohol with a subordinate employee and touching her without her consent. The complaint accuses him of violating three rules, including one that requires judges to “observe high standards of conduct to preserve the integrity” of the judiciary.

Hoffman serves as a part-time judge in municipal court in Robbinsville, a post he was first appointed to in 2010, and in the shared courts of five other municipalities, New Hanover, Wrightstown, Mansfield, Springfield, and Southampton.

The woman, who is only identified by her initials, began working as a violations clerk in Robbinsville in 2021 and became friends on Facebook with Hoffman. The judge would comment on her photos — sometimes with sexual innuendo — and he extended an open invitation for her to visit his beach house, the complaint says.

On Oct. 15, 2022, the woman asked to visit the beach house, and Hoffman said she could, according to the complaint. They each consumed alcohol over the course of four hours, and while they were seated on a couch, he asked her questions about her intimate relationship with her boyfriend and then touched her knee and upper thigh without her consent, the complaint alleges.

She immediately left his house and then alerted her supervisor to the incident, following up two days later with an official report to court officials, the complaint says.

The complaint alleges Hoffman “demeaned the judicial office,” a violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct.

Within 20 days, a judge hit with a complaint is expected to file a response to the charges with defenses, mitigating circumstances, and other challenges to the proceedings, and the committee will schedule a formal hearing.

The municipal court did not respond to a request for comment. It is unclear if Hoffman has retained a lawyer.

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