Love-Struck German Judge Turns Blind Eye to Justice

No one can blame Wolfgang W. for falling in love. The 63-year-old Munich judge (whose full last name has been withheld for legal reasons) might have been married, but he wouldn't be the first man to leave his wife for a younger woman.

What does matter a little in this particular case is that W. met Fatime L. in his courtroom. The 30-year-old Albanian woman was attending the robbery trial of her lover.

All that might have kept most people from going further than a friendly smile. The judge, however, pulled out his mobile phone and reportedly began sending the woman explicit text messages such as "I'm kissing you awake" and "Alone with you in bed. I want to drag you into bed before breakfast and sleep with you."

He might have gotten away with it all. But then W. withdrew an offer to sentence Fatime's boyfriend to no more than 22 months in prison and asked her to help him decide on the man's jail time.

"He should be sent away for longer so that you're at peace or he should be sent to his wife, which might also help," the judge wrote. "It's up to you."

That did it for Fatime, who forwarded the messages to her boyfriend's defense lawyer. It shouldn't come as a surprise that court officials accepted her application to remove the judge from the case.

W. will have lots of time for text messaging in the future: He faces disciplinary action and charges of abuse of office, which could send him to prison for up to five years.