A district judge in Long Island is in jail after admitting to police he repeatedly broke into his neighbor's home to steal her underwear.
Officials say Suffolk County District Judge Robert Cicale has been removed from the bench and faces up to fifteen years in prison. The married father of three young children was arrested for burglary.
According to ABC 13, Cicale has been accused of sneaking into his neighbor's home and stealing the panties of a 23-year-old woman who lived there with her parents. Cicale knew the young woman after she interned at the Islip Town Attorney's Office while he was still working there.
Officials say Cicale confessed to stealing the underwear after feeling "urges" on several occasions. The judge would reportedly enter the 23-year-old woman's home, open her hamper and take underwear from it.
Cicale was arrested on Thursday morning after he attempted to break into his neighbor's house while the young woman was still there. Prosecutors said she was sleeping, but woke when she heard the door open. That's when she called out, "Hello?" and saw Cicale at the doorway. Police say he fled the scene while the victim locked the door and called her mother, who called 911. The officers who responded to the scene say they spotted Circale walking up to another house, pretending to knock on the door.
When officers searched the judge, they found several pairs of soiled underwear consistent with the ones the victim described as her own.
Circarle wrote a letter of apology to his victim, as well as a written confession to prosecutors. Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini called the allegations "highly disturbing."
"This is an individual who swore to uphold the law. He violated it in a very serious way." Sini said. "The message here from both the Suffolk County Police Department and the Suffolk County District Attorney's office is that no one is above the law, and we'll prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law."
Cicale has been ordered held on $50,000 bail.