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Feb. 09, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Clark County judge accused of sexual misconduct

Del Vecchio confident 'hearing will clear my name'

By DAVID KIHARA
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Nicholas Del Vecchio
Judge accused by Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission

The special prosecutor for the Judicial Discipline Commission has accused Family Court Judge Nicholas Del Vecchio of sexual misconduct and abuse of power, including coercing a judicial assistant into having a sexual relationship with him.

The complaint alleges that the relationship dates to before Del Vecchio was a judge, when the judicial assistant, the daughter of his ex-wife, was 14.

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    • Del Vecchio took nude photos of the girl when she was between the ages of 14 and 16 and had her perform oral sex on him, the 38-count complaint states. The complaint adds that Del Vecchio kept the photos after he became a judge but later destroyed them.

    The document, which is not a criminal complaint, also accuses Del Vecchio of using racial slurs against black and Hispanic court staff and of coercing staff into buying him lunches and airline tickets.

    The commission's special prosecutor, Mary Boetsch, filed the formal complaint with the Judicial Discipline Commission on Friday.

    The investigation into Del Vecchio's behavior on the bench dates back to May 2006, when the Clark County Office of Diversity began looking into allegations of sexual harassment. The office investigates allegations of sexual, racial and religious harassment in the workplace.

    Del Vecchio, 50, denied all accusations against him Friday night.

    He said the diversity office found that there was "insufficient evidence as to all the charges."

    Del Vecchio strongly denied that he had a sexual relationship with his ex-wife's 14-year-old daughter in the early 1990s. She was named in the complaint as Rebeccah Murray.

    "I feel confident that a hearing will clear my name," he said.

    It was unclear whether authorities had or intended to file criminal charges against Del Vecchio.

    Del Vecchio and Murray broke off contact in the mid-1990's but she wound up working for him when he was serving on the bench in 2002.

    Del Vecchio sought to arrange a special work schedule for Murray that would allow her to work for him, according to the complaint. The request was refused by Chief Judge Kathy Hardcastle.

    The complaint says he went around Hardcastle and adjusted Murray's schedule to allow her to work and attend law school at the same time, but did so on the condition she have sex with him. Murray didn't want to have sex with Del Vecchio and had to get drunk to do it, the complaint states.

    When she tried to end the relationship, Del Vecchio was hostile to her and threatened to fire her, the complaint says.

    Murray filed a sexual harassment complaint against Del Vecchio with the county's diversity office in May 2006.

    Del Vecchio sexually harassed other court staff, according to the complaint. He told a family court employee, Beata Funk, that he wanted to have sex with her and wanted her to wear tight shirts while campaigning for him, the complaint says.

    The complaint also accuses Del Vecchio of:

    • Telling another judicial assistant she should date certain attorneys because it would help him get campaign contributions from them.

    • Making offensive racial comments to a Hispanic bailiff, calling him a "lazy Mexican."

    • Directing a bailiff who had a part-time job with a commercial airline to obtain free tickets for him.

    • And making staff baby sit the child of a girlfriend.

    Only the Judicial Discipline Commission has the authority to suspend or reprimand a sitting judge, court officials said. Del Vecchio will have a chance to respond to the complaint. The commission could then have a public hearing to consider the merits of the charges.

    Chuck Short, county court administrator, said the court began investigating Del Vecchio in 2006 and reported its finding to the Judicial Discipline Commission in the summer of 2006.

    "At this point, the court hopes the Judicial Discipline Commission will move at lightning speed to take action due to the egregious nature of the charges," he said. "Anything less is a disservice to the community, the judge and the lawyers and individuals with cases pending before the judge."

    Del Vecchio was first elected as a Family Court judge in 2000. He had lost seven previous elections. He has filed for re-election and drawn challengers Ellen Bezian, Cynthia Giuliani and Vincent Ochoa.

    Ochoa, a family law attorney who has argued cases before Del Vecchio, said he was surprised when he learned the extent of the accusations. He said the judge never asked him for anything inappropriate such as a free lunch.

    Ochoa said there were rumors around Family Court that Del Vecchio was being investigated, but he was shocked to learn the details of the inquiry.

    "I knew he had some problems, but I never dreamed they were this bad," he said. "I think it's an embarrassment to the judiciary."

    Review-Journal writer Lawrence Mower contributed to this story. Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara@reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-1039.



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    anonomous wrote on July 31, 2008 02:52 PM: Non of this is true! I am related to Nick, and Becky is the meanest jerk in the world. My cousin is the one who she babysat. I was there and she offered! He never did any of this. There lying through there teeth!


    ndv wrote on April 26, 2008 04:11 AM: My name is Nichloas Del Vecchio as well I searched my name on google and I found this site.


    dd wrote on April 03, 2008 08:58 PM: My ex-husband committed a felony sex-crime which ended our marriage. Our divorce ended up before Del Vecchio who awarded my ex-husband 100% of the amount of our house payments we made for 3 1/2 yrs. together as equity. My ex-husband was represented by an attorney and Del Vecchio still afforded him a collect conference call from prison @ our hearing (courtesy of taxpayers money). What world is he living in? I agree that he dislikes women and needs to be off the bench!


    ddd wrote on February 23, 2008 08:15 AM: Unethical to say the least. My 5 year old daughter was given to her abusive father in fall '03. Ms. Murray told me via telephone Del Vecchio would give me a telephone hearing. I was custodial parent for 4 years. Judge Del Vecchio did not call me! He did not even give me visitation! My daughter was afraid of being with her father she hardly knew him who at the time court files showed him to be abusive (3 cps cases for beating my other children). I also had restraining orders on him prior for domestic violence. I lost all trust in the justice system. I haven't been able to see my daughter now for 4 years!!! Everyday is a battle in my mind how this judge was not caring about the lives of the children. He granted a passport to her father (a native of another country) behind my back! Now my daughter stands as a threat for international abduction! I am glad his conduct has come into the light. My daughter, siblings and I were served an injustice by this so called judge. He has no integrity as a judge as far as I'm concerned. Had I had the financial recources I could of brought my baby home by the way of the SUPREME COURT. The day I lost my I lost my mind. I haven't been able to work full time since that day because I continually break out in tears because of the decisions Del Vecchio made. I pray someone will finally see the injustice made and reunite my daughter and I. deardianad@gmail.com


    divorced also wrote on February 11, 2008 11:50 PM: Tony,
    My point is this man should be in question regarding all of his decision making. Are you a father? A mother? Are your children afraid of being with you. Have you ever put your children in a unhealthy and unsafe situation? Do you have a relationship with your children? Do you care about your children? By reading these comments, there is plenty of women out there that have had problems with Del Vecchio. However, you are right. Being a women has nothing to do with being a better parent but the accusations in question brings up the question, (does Del Vecchio have any respect for women or children) and in my case he had no respect for either. Also, he did not care what position he was putting the children in. Or how safe they would be. I am not saying he is guilty of the accusations. However, there are a lot of accusations here and with what I have seen of him, I due have issues with his intentions as a judge. This is not just one accusation there are plenty questioning his integrity as a Judge. So, in the end I am glad to see that this is being investigated. I hope that it is all false. If it is shame on the accusers. If it is not shame on him.


    ANNOYOMOUS wrote on February 11, 2008 04:11 PM: DELVECCHIO DOES SEEM LIKE A PERV....I WANT HIM TAKEN OFF OF THE BENCH. HE DOESN'T NEED TO BE HAVING THE FAITH OF CHILDREN LEFT IN HIS HANDS......HE SHOULD BE REMOVED IMMEDIATELY!


    dlw wrote on February 11, 2008 11:11 AM: What happened to innocent unless proven guilty? This applies to all doesn't it?


    Elene wrote on February 11, 2008 10:34 AM: I honestly believe these racial allegations, I cannot speak on the sexual allegations although it would not surprise me. I am not being hostile because of the outcome of my case that Judge Del Vecchio heard but I SAW it in our case.

    I am a hispanic female and my mother in-law also hispanic came here on a 6 month visa to assist me in watching my newborn since his father was serving in Iraq. My ex (white male) made the statement that she could be an illegal (due to her living in my house with our 13 yr old daughter) and that he did not know her. My attorney advised the court that was not relevent to this case although Del Vecchio made his decision based upon that. We didn't feel it was our duty to prove that she wasn't an illegal. Although my true statements about him having several male roommates was a concern of mine since my daughter looked older and very mature. (Also that one of those roommates impregnated a 15 year old run away. That was never a concern of Del Vecchio.

    Very clear he is racist. His comments in court are also very unprofessional. He waived 40K in arrears because his reasoning was "you aren't going to see it anyways". Now you tell me where the justice is.


    Jennifer DeVoge wrote on February 10, 2008 09:07 PM: Judge Del Vecchio is a pig! He hates women! I had to go before him and he threatened me! He is predudice against women as well! I sent transcripts to the supreme court and they wanted to see the tapes. We are waiting for a date to go before them. He denied me my rights as an american citizen! I am glad that this is comming out and they can see what a slime ball he really is!


    Disgusted wrote on February 10, 2008 05:07 PM: The complaint is on the web. A simple search Nicholas Del Vecchio will bring it up. Apparently, there is more than one person making accusations. You might want to take a look.


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