Joseph Boeckmann, an Arkansas judge is stepping down from the bench amid allegations that he had sex with and took suggestive spanking photos of young men with cases before him.
Cross County Judge Boeckmann announced his resignation on Monday, ending eight cases against him by the state’s Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission for giving preferential treatment in exchange for sexual favors.
Boeckmann sent the letter of resignation to the commission’s executive director, David Sachar, about 10:57 a.m. Monday morning. That letter, which did not include a detailed explanation behind his departure, was also copied to Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
Allegations announced in November had focused on his supposed failure to report conflicts of interest and abusing his power as a judge.
Boeckmann was said to have singled out young white men with legal troubles and offered them to “community service” that involved picking up trash at his house.
His Honor allegedly took the opportunity to take pictures of the men as they bent over, and to have begun sexual relationships that indulged his penchant for spanking.
Episodes of licentious behavior, some of which are thought to have involved Boeckmann paying defendants, are alleged to go as far back as 1985, when he was a deputy prosecutor.
JDDC Executive Director David Sachar said that although there are currently 12 alleged victims, there could be more than 100.
Other allegations against him included possession of child pornography and particularly poor treatment of minorities and women, whom he yelled at and called “stupid” while presiding over their cases.

Boeckmann and his lawyer had denied the allegations, though his resignation comes after the discipline commission says it recovered more than 1,000 of photos of defendants on his computer.
Sachar expects at least 3,400 more, and said that the images show “acts of masturbation, naked young men bent over a desk or a bar, etc.”
The letter sent through Boeckmann’s defense, which set Monday as the deadline for the lawman’s resignation, also told the judge not to get rid of the paddle seen in many of the pictures.
The resignation ends the discipline commission cases against Boeckmann, stopping more detailed information and allegations that would have likely emerged if he had refused
The investigation was given to a special prosecutor and could lead to criminal charges.
As part of Boeckmann’s resignation he promised not to “seek employment as a local, county or state employee or public servant in the State of Arkansas.”