Top Judge in Washington DC Quits As Woman Accuses Him Of Rape

The chief federal district judge in Washington DC has resigned after a Utah woman accused him of raping her during the trial of a serial killer 35 years ago.Richard Roberts cited unspecified health reasons as he stepped down on Wednesday, reports the Washington Post.
He quit as Terry Mitchell filed a lawsuit claiming the judge had sexually abused her when she was a witness in the 1981 case of a white supremacist who shot Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt.
Ms Mitchell was 16 years old at the time, according to the suit, which was filed on Wednesday in US District Court in Salt Lake City.
She had seen racist neo-Nazi killer Joseph Paul Franklin shoot two black joggers in Salt Lake City in 1980.Mr Roberts was a civil rights lawyer for the US Justice Department, which was prosecuting Franklin.Court papers allege that Mr Roberts, then 27, repeatedly sexually abused Ms Mitchell in a hotel room before and during the two-week trial."Defendant Roberts intimidated, coerced, and manipulated Mitchell to have sexual intercourse nearly every day for several weeks," the lawsuit alleges.