Bristow, Oklahoma - A US jury has sentenced an Oklahoma judge to one year in prison for using a penis pump on the bench during three murder trials and a civil case in 2002 and 2003.
Donald D Thompson, 59, was convicted on Thursday and fined $10 000 (about R130 000) for each count. Thompson told the jury he would also lose his $90 000-a-year pension.
The verdict, which exposed the judge's behind-the-bench secrets, capped a bizarre and awkward chapter in the state's judicial history.
Thompson's longtime court reporter, Lisa Foster, wept on the stand as she recalled how she discovered the source of a "sh-sh" sound in the courtroom. She said she spied Thompson's penis inside the pump through a small gap between a drawer and a door.
Foster said she later saw Thompson's penis 15 to 20 times over the course of three years. She also saw him shave his scrotum and urinate into a trashcan behind the bench.
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