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Ex-Ala. judge accused of trading sex for leniency

A former Alabama judge goes on trial Monday in Mobile on charges of having sex with male inmates in exchange for leniency.

Herman Thomas resigned his circuit judgeship in 2007 after being accused of having defendants pull down their underwear for paddlings in his private courthouse office. A Mobile County grand jury indicted him in the spring on charges accusing him of having sex with inmates brought to a private courthouse office.

The charges of sodomy, kidnapping, sex abuse, extortion and assault involve 15 current and former inmates at the jail in Mobile. Thomas' attorney, Robert Clark, says the inmates are lying and trying to ruin an outstanding legal career.

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