State Bar: Thomas Is A “Sexual Predator”

Mobile Montgomery Alabama State Bar rejects former Judge Herman Thomas' petition to get his law license back.

by Jessica Taloney

Published: Thu, April 09, 2009 - 5:45 pm CST Last Updated: Thu, April 09, 2009 - 8:36 pm CST

A former judge accused of paddling inmates will not get his law license back any time soon.

A three person panel of the Alabama State Bar's Disciplinary Commission upheld a previous decision to suspend Herman Thomas' license, despite Thomas denying under oath all of the allegations in a 57 count indictment.

"I'm not guilty," said Thomas, in his first interview since his arrest earlier this month. "There is no doubt that people assisted these inmates in telling these lies on me."

During the two hour hearing, Thomas testified about the nature of his relationship with each of the nine inmates named in the indictment. Thomas acknowledged going to Mobile Metro Jail to pick up two of the inmates on separate occasions, but he said he gave one of the inmates a ride home and the other he took to his court chambers to mentor.

In addition to paddling inmates, Thomas is also accused of forcing them to perform sexual acts in exchange for leniency in the courtroom. Tony McLain, General Counsel for the Alabama State Bar, introduced into evidence pictures of the room where the sexual abuse allegedly happened and forensic DNA evidence allegedly found in the room.

"When you have the mounting amount of information and the number of people coming forward, especially with someone in a high place such as a judge, wanting to provide information which obviously is embarrassing to them individually and the responsibility they have to back it up, leads us to the conclusion he is a dangerous individual," said McLain, who also agreed with the testimony of Jeremy McIntrye, Asst. General Counsel, who called Thomas a "sexual predator."

Thomas' wife sat behind him during the hearing, and afterwards she clung to his arm as he talked to News Five about his desire to continue working in the community.

Thomas's attorney, Bob Clark, says his first court appearance in the criminal case will likely be April 17th.

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Alabama Patriot Says:

Fri, Apr 10, 2009 at 6:25 am

This sounds like S.O.P. (Standard Operating Procedure) for those accused of a crime. I read once that the police always expect the accused to plead innocent, even though the facts say otherwise. It always surprises them when someone actually pleads guilty. Yes, it looks like Herman Thomas will try to pull the same thing that Bill Clinton did when he said that his definition of ‘SEX’ was different than the rest of the world’s. Maybe the DA’s office should require Thomas to take a polygraph and make sure that there are plenty of witnesses of ALL races present to witness it so that no one can claim that the test was fixed. And make the stipulation that the results of the test are admissible in court. If Thomas’ lawyer says anything negative to the way the investigation is being done, he probably should be arrested himself for obstruction of justice. And he should stop reporting to the NAACP. There are 57 reasons why Thomas should be in court on Judgement Day. Innocent or not.

Violator Says:

Thu, Apr 09, 2009 at 7:30 pm

“I did not have sexual relations with those inmates”, “It depends on what the definiton of what paddling is”. This clown is the darker version of Bill Clinton. Except Bill “like Big Butts and he can not lie”! (Sir Mix alot song)

Boondock Says:

Thu, Apr 09, 2009 at 7:17 pm

I agree Bob, this guy has beed a sexual predator longer than these allegations that just surfaced. Remember how Vick said he was innocent and couldnt wait to go to court to prove his innocence? The criminal element in denial brings the whole family down with them.