This plaintiff did not want to approach the bench.
A Bronx Family Court judge suddenly recused herself from a child custody case after the mother involved publicly accused the lawyer of coming to her via a swinger app, The Post has learned.
Judge Cynthia Lopez, 47, announced her recusal Monday during a brief virtual teleconference with parents’ attorney Sidney Southerland.
The surprising turn of events happened last week, Southerland claims, when a woman named “Cynthia” contacted him on 3Fun, “a leading app for sexually independent singles.”
“GM,” the woman wrote in a message just before 8 a.m. on January 24, using slang for good morning. “I’m Cynthia. How are you?”
Southerland — who uses the name Chyna on her app, but uses her actual photo — provided The Post with a screenshot of the alleged message, along with the purported sender’s profile, which showed a photo of Lopez, wearing only black heels and a black negligee, sitting cross-legged on on the sofa.
Sydney Southerland has waged a years-long battle in family court to get her children back. Helayne Seidman
The profile lists the woman as bisexual, with the male partner identified only as “Ant”.
The sender isn’t shy about what he’s looking for, stating in his public profile:
“We are a full exchange [couple] in a [ethical non-monogamy] dynamics want to have hot sexy fun with another full exchange [couples] and single women,” he wrote. “We love fat girls as much as we love petite girls! At the end of the day it’s all about personality. Most men should be stout and I’m a girl, I prefer men who are a bit endowed.”
The alluring swinger’s profile allegedly shows Judge Cynthia Lopez. go3fun.co
Southerland did not mince words in his response:
“Bitch, you know who the f–k I am,” Southerland recalled.
The sender immediately blocked him, but not before Southerland said he managed to capture images of the initial exchange and the profile.
“I plan to file a complaint,” Southerland added, and speculated that Judge Lopez was moving his custody case slowly because he tried to sleep with her.
Messages allegedly sent by Lopez. Courtesy of Sidney Sutherland
“He just wants to see me. There was some kind of attraction and I was disturbed by it. I fought for my children for two years and you gave me a hard time because of some sexual attraction,” he told The Post.
Southerland made him grumble public in videos on TikTok and Xtwo days after allegedly receiving an early arrival.
“POV: you’re going to family court and the judge who acts like he hates you, sends you inbox on a swingers dating app … a week before your next court date,” Southerland wrote.
Judge Cynthia Lopez recused herself from the case shortly after she was accused of approaching the litigant through a dating app. latinojudgesassociation.org
The TikTok post was quickly sent to the city’s Administration for Children’s Services, which in turn referred the matter to the state’s Administrative Office of Courts. ACS would not comment.
“The court has been informed of this claim, and is reviewing it,” said an OCA spokesperson, when asked about the judge’s alleged absconding and whether it led to his disqualification.
Southerland’s legal troubles began on July 28, 2021, when NYPD officers raided his mother’s Bronx apartment and arrested him, according to a lawsuit he filed against the city in September 2022 that claims the police did not show any probable cause.
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The NYPD declined to comment on the litigation and said “There are no arrests on file” – contrary to a key claim in its litigation.
Southerland’s two young children, Saniya, now 9, and Saint, 4, were taken by ACS in February 2022 and she found herself before Judge Lopez that same month.
Southerland, who claims he has been married nine times, is no stranger to the law.
Southerland accused Judge Lopez of contacting him through an app called 3fun that caters to swingers. go3fun.co
He pleaded guilty to assault three times between 2015 and 2017.
In each case, he was given probation or mental health counseling.
In one 2017 case, Southerland was busted after an NYPD officer saw him screaming in a Facebook Live video while a bloodied man lay on the floor in the background.
“THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN AN–GA CHEATS ON YOU. YOU F–KING CUT HIM. SAY MY NAME, SAY MY NAME AND I WILL F–KING CUT YOURTH MTH. IF–KING CUT YOU. YOU WANT TO CHEAT IN AN–GA. YOU WANNA F–K SOME OTHER BITCH,” he yelled, according to the criminal complaint.
Sidney Southerland is no stranger to the law, having pleaded guilty to assault on three separate occasions in recent years. Helayne Seidman
In another case from 2015, the NYPD alleges he threw his 1-year-old daughter, Saniya, into the air causing her to “land on the floor face up,” resulting in two skull fractures, according to the criminal complaint. .
Lopez served as an interim civil and family court judge for three years before being officially appointed to the job by Mayor Adams last month and has been praised by the Latino Judges Association for her “sound judgment and legal expertise.”
Lopez will be replaced in the custody case by Judge Fiordaliza A. Rodriguez, according to Southerland’s attorney, George Gilmer.
Judge Lopez declined to comment and directed all inquiries to the OCA.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
