Feds: Mass. court clerk offered hooker favors for sex

The Boston Herald reports:

A Chelsea court clerk has been accused of trading sexual favors with a prostitute who allegedly gave him oral sex in the city courthouse in exchange for his efforts to get her case dropped, according to a federal affadavit.

James Burke, 41, was charged today in U.S. Federal Court in Boston with one count of attempted deprivation of rights under the color of law and one count of deprivation of rights under the color of law, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He made his initial appearance this morning in federal court. He was released on a $10,000 personal surety bond, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The prostitute, identified in court papers as the “cooperating witness,” was in Chelsea District Court in December 2008 with her attorney when she saw Burke, and told her lawyer that she had given him oral sex in the courthouse in 2005.

A subsequent FBI investigation revealed that Burke is alleged to have solicited oral sex in February 2005, and again in December last year from the prostitute he met in court in exchange for working his connections to get her case dropped, according to a seven-page affadavit.

Great moments in Blue America.