The December issue of Texas Monthly has the sordid tale of "the most powerful jurist in Galveston" and the brave woman that brought his disgraceful act to an end - Perversion of Justice (unfortunately it's behind a subscription wall right now.)
Cathy McBroom went to work for Judge Samuel Kent as a case manager in 2002 and what started as a dream job for Cathy became a nightmare as the lecherous and misogynistic 'sex judge' began to frequently harass her. His misdeeds were well known but "none of the lawyers dared openly question the judge's behavior" lest they get on his bad side. Same with his employees.
In 2007, Cathy built up the courage to file a complaint against the jurist a local newspaper called a "seemingly impenetrable force" but she faced an uphill climb from a skeptical FBI and a string of lawyers that wanted nothing to do with it. That is until she called the "famously theatrical Rusty Hardin, one of Houston’s best criminal defense attorneys." Hardin had no compunction in going after the feared judge.
In August 2008, Kent was indicted on charges of abusive sexual conduct and attempted sexual abuse and earlier this year Kent plead guilty to charges of obstruction of justice. In the end Kent was sentenced to 33 months of lying to investigators about sexually abusing the two employees.
From the article:
It was the most spectacular downfall the justice system had seen in decades. A federal judge, who in nineteen years on the bench had presided over more than 12,000 cases, had been caught himself in a flagrant abuse of power. In February 2009 the courtroom was packed as Kent stood before a visiting federal judge and, in a voice that barely rose above a whisper, pleaded guilty. “Gone was the thunderous voice, the swelling, megalomaniacal demeanor, the vehement proclamations of innocence,” wrote a Houston Chronicle reporter.
