Las Vegas Family Court Judge Accused of Sexual Misconduct
A Las Vegas judge who hears adoption and domestic violence cases has been charged in an ethics complaint with sexually harassing an employee he first sexually abused when she was about 14 years old.
The complaint against Nicholas Del Vecchio also alleges he used racial slurs, made sexually suggestive comments to staffers, and coerced lawyers into buying him lunches, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
The complaint (PDF) alleges the abuse against the employee began when she was about 14, News 3 reports. Del Vecchio was married to the girl’s mother for about a year.
The employee went to work for Del Vecchio as a judicial assistant in 2002 and was forced to have sex with the judge to keep her job as a judicial assistant, the complaint alleges.
Del Vecchio “strongly denied” the early relationship with the woman and denied all the other allegations as well. He has not been charged with criminal violations. “I feel confident that a hearing will clear my name,” he told the Review-Journal.
