Criminal court judge investigated for recording profane TikTok videos in his chambers: report

A New Jersey jurist is under investigation for posting around forty inappropriate and offensive videos to a popular social media app, The New York Times' Tracey Tully reported on Tuesday.

Between 2021 and 2023, Bergen County Superior Court Judge Gary Wilcox "used a pseudonym to post TikTok videos of himself lip-syncing lyrics from popular rap songs," Tully explained. "In some, he was wearing judicial robes or shown walking through a courthouse, according to the state’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct. Others included explicit references to violence, sex and misogyny. At least one was taken in bed."

A five-page complaint was filed by the New Jersey Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct last Friday against Wilcox — who called himself "Sal Tortorella," notedThe New York Post.

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"The filing alleges some of the videos are problematic because of their content, the location of filming, including in the judge's chambers, in the courthouse, and in a bed, or Wilcox's attire — 'wearing his judicial robes and/or partially dressed while lying in bed," the Postexplained. "The complaint says that the song contains 'explicit lyrics concerning a criminal case and a courtroom shooting as well as derogatory and discriminatory terms, drug and gang references, and the killing of a doctor in a hospital who treated another gang member.''

Tully pointed out that the case against Wilcox "will likely involve free speech arguments" and "was filed a day after the New Jersey Supreme Court issued a potentially precedent-setting decision related to privacy protections when using social media. The court ruled that the police needed to prove more than basic probable cause to continuously monitor Facebook to investigate crimes, concluding that the surveillance was the 'functional equivalent' of tapping a person's phone.'"

Lines that Wilcox mimicked in one video included, "You think you can run up on me and whip my monkey ass? Come on. Come on!" which per the Times "was recorded in a judge's chambers in front of law books."

Wilcox has 20 days to submit a written formal answer to the complaint, reported NorthJersey.com," the Post learned. "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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Tully's report continues at this link (subscription required). The New York Post's is here.