Woman files complaint against judge after he tells her to sell her nude photos during case

Hope Schreiber
·Writer
Updated
A complaint was filed against New Jersey Judge, Alberto Rivas, after he told a defendant she should sell her photos to the late Hugh Hefner. (Photo: Facebook/New Jersey Courts)
A complaint was filed against New Jersey Judge, Alberto Rivas, after he told a defendant she should sell her photos to the late Hugh Hefner. (Photo: Facebook/New Jersey Courts)

A New Jersey judge has issued an apology following a complaint that he offered a woman a "piece of advice" during a court proceeding involving revenge porn: to sell her nude photos to Playboy.

Middlesex County Judge Alberto Rivas was presiding over a case in which a woman sought the return of explicit photos she claimed her boyfriend's wife held. The girlfriend said that the man’s wife sent the photos to her workplace, as well as her own workplace, and she feared the wife would share them on social media.

However, according to court transcripts, Judge Rivas seemingly doubted the girlfriend's claims, and suggested that she was attempting to humiliate the wife and leaked the photos herself.

Rivas further cast doubt on the plaintiff when she claimed she did not know where the wife worked and, therefore, could not have sent her own nude photos to the wife's place of business.

“Baloney. That’s not true. If you’re screwing him — let’s be frank now, because I should not be wasting judicial resources on this kind of malarkey. If you have been screwing him for these years, there’s no question that you know where she works. That’s how affairs work. This is not someone you just met,” the judge said at the hearing, court documents show.

At one point, Rivas suggested that the wife divorce her husband, who is a corrections officer, and receive half of his pension.

The judge also addressed the husband, who was present in the courtroom but not part of the case, and said, “I wish you were up here, because I’m gunning for you, because you are despicable."

Rivas concluded the proceeding by addressing the girlfriend.

“I will give you a piece of advice...The only person you should be sending naked pictures to are [sic] Hugh Hefner. He will pay you $100,000 for the use of them," the complaint reads.

The complaint was filed Wednesday against Rivas in accordance with the “Rules Governing the Courts of the State of New Jersey, Rule 2:15 Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct."

"By his conduct in giving vent to his personal feelings of disapproval about the propriety of Plaintiff's decision... [Rivia] compromised both his integrity and impartiality and that of the Judiciary," the complaint read. "[Rivia] publicly humiliated, embarrassed and demeaned the parties."

“I regret the comments I made during the proceeding,” Rivas said in a statement released by court officials. “I felt the court was being manipulated, but I let my feelings about the case influence my language, tone and demeanor, all of which were inappropriate.”

The state Administrative Office of Courts said a formal hearing would be scheduled regarding the judge's behavior.

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