Nino F. Falcone, a former North Bergen municipal judge, told the state’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct Wednesday that he didn’t intend to molest a woman in his law office who later brought criminal charges against him, the New Jersey Monitor reported.
The disciplinary hearing was in response to a complaint filed by the woman in June that accused Falcone of making an unwanted advance, adding that the ex-judge “demeaned the judicial office” and “impugned the integrity of the Judiciary.”
The complaint states that the two knew each other, and the incident occurred in 2019 when the woman went to Falcone’s law office on behalf of her employer.
The complaint describes her version of events: After finishing business, the two made small talk. As she attempted to leave, she said Falcone pulled her into him and began rubbing her back. She tried to push Falcone away, but he grabbed her arm, allegedly squeezed her breast, and said “let me touch you, let me play with you.” Falcone released her, took out his wallet and offered her “birthday money,” which she refused before leaving, according to the complaint.
“I felt disgusted. I felt violated,” the woman told the committee on Wednesday.
Falcone disputed most of the woman’s version of events during Wednesday’s hearing, telling the committee: “Her version of the facts are not my version of the facts.” He said he never makes physical contact in his professional work. While he couldn’t explain why the hug occurred, he said he had no ill intent.
“It was not premeditated, and it was not for any personal gratifications or malice on my part,” Falcone told the committee. “It was just an accident.”
The woman reported the incident to the Teaneck Police Department, which referred her to the special victims unit of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, according to the complaint.
During a phone call, Falcone admitted to the woman that he had touched her “inappropriately” and apologized to her, an admission that was secretly recorded by detectives. Falcone was arrested and charged with criminal sexual conduct in September 2019. The charges were dismissed in May 2021 after he completed an intervention program.
Jefferey Garrigan, a lawyer for Falcone, responded to the complaint to the judicial conduct committee in July asking that it be dismissed and denying his client had violated the code of judicial conduct.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Garrigan asked the woman if Falcone’s hands had slipped, making contact with her breasts and if she initiated the hug, which had been asserted earlier by Falcone.
“Seriously? Seriously?” the woman responded.
Falcone retired from his part-time job as a municipal judge in 2020, and any discipline would have little effect, according to the Monitor.
Garrigan said in an email to Newsweek that his client “has an impeccable reputation as a judge and attorney for over three decades, respects the process and awaits the Committee’s decision.”
