Federal Judge Probed on Harassment Allegations

Dec. 13, 2007— -- A federal judge in Texas is under investigation by the Department of Justice for allegedly inappropriately touching a former female employee, the judge's lawyer told ABC News.

U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent of Galveston, Texas, who was reprimanded and temporarily suspended in September, voluntarily spoke with the FBI at the end of November, said his lawyer, Dick DeGuerin.

Kent has been accused of lifting his former case manager's shirt and touching her breast against her will, and the woman's lawyer has publicly called for a criminal investigation into the allegations. Other employees have also complained of "inappropriate behavior" by Kent, according to court records.

"Absolutely, he denies" the allegations, DeGuerin said, adding that he believed Kent would be cleared by the investigation.

"We welcome the investigation, and will cooperate fully with it," he said. "Anytime somebody makes a complaint like that, they have to investigate it."

But a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation told ABC News that the federal government looked into Kent before Cathy McBroom's accusations were made public.

McBroom has not publicly told her story, which was first reported by the Houston Chronicle. But her mother, daughter and a friend have told ABC News that McBroom said Kent sexually harassed her repeatedly before March, when he allegedly lifted up her shirt and bra in his chambers and put his mouth on her breast. He then pushed her head towards his crotch, they said.

"She could hardly control herself, she was so upset," said Mary Ann Schopp, McBroom's mother.