FOX News analyst Andrew Napolitano is facing lawsuits from two separate men accusing the New Jersey judge of “forcible sodomy” in one case and attempted rape in the other.
Business Insider reports: “The first lawsuit against Napolitano was filed on September 11 and alleged that he had ‘forcibly sodomized' Charles Corbishley, then a 20-year-old defendant in Napolitano's court, in 1987. Napolitano filed a countersuit against Corbishley on September 15 for defamation, denying all of Corbishley's allegations.
“On Monday, New Jersey resident James Kruzelnick filed a lawsuit seeking $15 million in damages from Napolitano, claiming a pattern of coercion and sexual abuse between 2014 and 2017. Kruzelnick alleges that Napolitano stalked and harassed him at his place of work, coerced him into ‘bizarre' sexual acts, and attempted to rape him, resulting in ‘severe and permanent emotional distress.'”
Napolitano's lawyer called the charges “total fiction” and accused the attorney, the same in both instances, of filing “copycat” lawsuits.
In Corbishley's case, the young man was facing arson charges in November 1987 and his case was transferred to Napolitano's court after his criminal defense attorney Robert Hollis was charged with money laundering in relation to a prostitution ring. In 1988, Hollis instructed Corbishley to meet with Napolitano at the New Jersey judge's residence.
NorthJersey.com reported on Corbishley's suit: “In the suit, Corbishley, who was 20 at the time, said he was told to bring a snow shovel and a Christmas card and when he got there, he was told to shovel the driveway which he found ‘peculiar because the driveway already had been shoveled.' He said in the lawsuit that Napolitano came outside dressed in a long trench coat and made small talk before saying ‘you know, you could be going away for a long time.' According to the suit, Napolitano pushed Corbishley to his knees and told him to ‘be a good boy.' The lawsuit states: ‘Charles Corbishley was then forced to perform fellatio on the Honorable Andrew Napolitano, the presiding Justice on his criminal case.' Corbishley said that he wanted to stop but was ‘terrified about what Judge Napolitano would do to him if he resisted or fought back.' According to the suit, Corbishley spoke to Hollis two days later and he ‘knew exactly what had happened between Judge Napolitano and Mr. Corbishley' and said ‘something to the effect that ‘we both have him now, and ‘don't worry about anything.'”
After the incident, two of Corbishley's charges were dismissed and he was given a more lenient sentence on the third while his co-defendant got three years in prison.
Kruzelnick's lawsuit says Napolitano began stalking him when he was a waiter at Mohawk House restaurant in Sparta, New Jersey, where he was ordered to serve Napolitano by the restaurant's owner, who was friends with the judge.
Kruzelnick said it began after Napolitano followed him into the bathroom and groped him, saying, “You are just so hot.”
According to the filing (transcriptions here from Law & Crime): “Plaintiff was shocked by Napolitano's actions, as the two men did not know each other and had never been together outside of the restaurant prior to that night. Plaintiff immediately pushed defendant Napolitano off of him, and told him that he shouldn't do things like that in a public place, and that he shouldn't touch him like that again. Plaintiff had no interest in Napolitano, who was 20 years older than him, and who was more of a father figure than anything else. Plaintiff felt that Napolitano was a brilliant man and he enjoyed speaking with him at the restaurant, but he did not want anything more than that to develop between them.”
The filing continues: “Napolitano would not be deterred. After this unwanted groping, Napolitano's sexual harassment of Plaintiff only increased. Every time Napolitano came to the restaurant, he would specifically ask for Plaintiff to be his waiter.”
The harassment continued into the following month, according to the filing: “In January 2015, Napolitano started making sexually explicit remarks to Plaintiff. He started telling Plaintiff things that he would like to do to Plaintiff sexually, and started to ask him blunt sexual questions. Plaintiff was very uncomfortable with these sexual remarks. While Plaintiff looked up to Napolitano and saw hm as a very powerful and accomplished man, he did not want to engage in this type of sexual talk with Napolitano, especially in a work environment.”
The filing continues: “Napolitano continued to make sexually suggestive and inappropriate remarks, but he seemed to understand that Plaintiff was not interested in any sexual relationship but rather just wanted to be friends. As long as Napolitano respected these boundaries, Plaintiff was okay with their friendship and genuinely enjoyed their conversations at the restaurant about life, politics and world events.”
But nine months into the “friendship,” Napolitano allegedly did this, according to the filing:
“As defendant Napolitano entered the living room, Plaintiff observed that Napolitano's pants were down, and his penis was fully erect and exposed. Plaintiff was truly shocked by Napolitano's conduct, and didn't know how to react. Before Plaintiff could say anything, Napolitano said ‘I am really into certain things' and ‘I want you to do something for me.' Thereafter, defendant Napolitano walked up to Plaintiff's chair, and suddenly threw himself onto Plaintiff's lap. Napolitano then told Plaintiff that ‘I want you to start slapping me really hard.' Before Plaintiff could say anything in response, defendant Andrew Napolitano then demanded that James Kruzelnick spank his exposed buttocks while Napolitano masturbated on his lap. Plaintiff was repelled by Napolitano's request and had no interest in playing this bizarre ‘sex game.' But when Plaintiff told Napolitano that he did not want to spank him, Napolitano shouted at him: ‘just fucking do it!!' … James Kruzelnick began spanking Andrew Napolitano on his buttocks while Napolitano masturbated. Napolitano then demanded that James Kruzelnick call him ‘son' while Plaintiff played the role of ‘daddy' and spanked Napolitano. Thereafter, Andrew Napolitano ejaculated onto one of Plaintiff James Kruzelnick's shoes, leaving Plaintiff feeling disgusted.”
Kruzelnick alleges that Napolitano continued to “relentlessly pursue” him, and Kruzelnick asked him for legal advice because he felt his boss at the restaurant was discriminating against him because he is gay.
According to the filing, Napolitano took the opportunity of giving legal advice as an opportunity to get Kruzelnick to his home, where he wanted to do the aforementioned sex scene: “Plaintiff felt like he could not risk telling Napolitano ‘No.' He feared not only that Napolitano would withdraw his offer for help, but also, that he would tell Steve Scro, his boss, that Plaintiff had gone to Napolitano to get legal advice for the discrimination he was experiencing at Mohawk House, which could cost him his job. The risk seemed too high to Plaintiff, so he acquiesced to Napolitano's demands.”
Kruzelnick says he also bent to Napolitano's demands because the judge offered to help his brother, who was involved in a criminal lawsuit.
“While Plaintiff felt humiliated, degraded and abused by Napolitano, he also felt that he was powerless to stop the abuse. If he refused to do what Napolitano wanted him to do, then Napolitano would refuse to help out his brother [who] would go to jail.”
And then this allegedly took place and involved a FOX News intern: “This was not the first time that Napolitano had brought a young man from Fox News to the Mohawk House for dinner. But it was the first time that Napolitano had actually introduced the young man to Plaintiff, and had made plans with Plaintiff that involved an intern from Fox News. Specifically, that evening Napolitano invited Plaintiff and the Fox News intern back to his home. Shortly after arriving at Napolitano's home, Plaintiff was given a drink and within ten to fifteen minutes of consuming the beverage, Plaintiff felt extremely woozy as if he had been drugged. He woke up hours later in Napolitano's bed, with blurred memories of engaging in a sexual threesome with Napolitano and the Fox news intern.”
Napolitano has denied all the charges through his lawyer.
