Who are James Kruzelnick and Charles Corbishley? Andrew Napolitano caught in sex scandal ‘involving BDSM role-play’
WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS GRAPHIC DETAIL
Fox News personality and former Judge Andrew Napolitano seems to be mired in controversy after a second man accused him of sexual assault. According to a Daily Mail report, the alleged victim — James Kruzelnick — has filed a lawsuit in New Jersey state court accusing Napolitano of forcing him to engage in bizarre BDSM sex games over the course of a number of years.
An analyst for Fox News who comments on legal news and trials, Napolitano served as a New Jersey Superior Court judge from 1987 to 1995. Earlier, another victim had filed a lawsuit against him. According to the bombshell lawsuit, the first alleged victim — Charles Corbishley — was sexually assaulted in exchange for a lenient sentence in an arson case in the 1980s, the New York Post reports.
While he is being sued by the one-time criminal defendant for $10 million in the first lawsuit, the plaintiff wants $15 million in damages in the second lawsuit. Here's a detailed look at the lawsuits and who are the alleged victims.
Who is Charles Corbishley?
Charles Corbishley was fighting a case on charges of criminal arson back in 1987. He was 20. At that time, Napolitano was the judge presiding over his case in New Jersey State Superior Court and Corbishley's lawyer, Robert Hollis, was allegedly a self-described “friend” of his. According to the Daily Mail, Hollis purportedly arranged for Corbishley to do yard work at Napolitano’s Hackensack residence in exchange for judicial leniency.
The lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court alleged that he was lured to the judge's New Jersey home under false pretenses. At first, he was confused about why he had been called there and then Napolitano called him over and engaged him in small talk about his family and a pharmacy in town, as per a Law and Crime report. The lawsuit described the graphic details of the assault:
Napolitano told him “you know, you could be going away for a long time.” He then placed his hand on Corbishley's shoulder and forced him to his knees. As he pushed him “down toward the ground,” he said, “Be a good boy.” Napolitano “appeared to be masturbating through his clothing, moving his hand back and forth over his penis.” He then “pulled his erect penis out.” Corbishley was then forced to perform fellatio on Napolitano.
“At this moment, Plaintiff was paralyzed with fear,” the lawsuit continued. “He wanted desperately to stop the sexual assault, but he was terrified about what Judge Napolitano would do to him if he resisted or fought back. Based on the power disparity between Judge Napolitano and Corbishley, it was impossible for him to have ‘consented’ to any sexual activities with Napolitano.”
The lawsuit claims when Napolitano “began to ejaculate” into Corbishley's mouth, “he took off crying and ran away.” Barely 20 years old at that time, Corbishley then stopped by a nearby diner and “desperately tried to clean himself and remove the semen from his clothing, face and mouth.”
After being granted probation and community service, the criminal charges were dropped. Corbishley now lives in South Carolina.
Who is James Kruzelnick?
A New Jersey waiter, James Kruzelnick claims he was drugged as Napolitano attempted rape and forced him to perform bizarre sex acts, according to the Daily Mail report. When he met Napolitano, he was working at the Mohawk restaurant in Sparta. As per the report the judge groped him in the men's bathroom and said: “You are just so hot.” At that time, the report adds, he was “flattered by the fact that Napolitano, a famous television personality, was interested in spending time with him".
Napolitano frequented the restaurant and asked Kruzelnick to be his waiter each time. “Napolitano continued to make sexually suggestive and inappropriate remarks, but he seemed to understand that Kruzelnick was not interested in any sexual relationship but rather just wanted to be friends,” the lawsuit read. “As long as Napolitano respected these boundaries, Plaintiff was okay with their friendship and genuinely enjoyed their conversations at the restaurant about life, politics and world events.”
Nine months after the strange pursuit, reports claim Napolitano allegedly “forced” Kruzelnick to “engage” in a “bizarre sexual act” at the Fox News judicial analyst’s home on September 6, 2015. Here are the graphic details from the lawsuit from a Law and Crime report.
As Napolitano entered the living room, Kruzelnick observed that Napolitano’s pants were down, and “his penis was fully erect and exposed.” Before he could say anything, Napolitano said “I am really into certain things” and “I want you to do something for me.” He then told Kruzelnick that “I want you to start slapping me really hard.” When he said he had no interest in playing this bizarre “sex game” and did not want to spank him, Napolitano shouted at him: “Just fucking do it!!”
“Kruzelnick began spanking Napolitano on his buttocks while Napolitano masturbated,” the lawsuit continued. “Napolitano then demanded that James Kruzelnick call him ‘son’ while Plaintiff played the role of ‘daddy’ and spanked Napolitano. Thereafter, Andrew Napolitano ejaculated onto one of Plaintiff James Kruzelnick’s shoes, leaving Plaintiff feeling disgusted.”
“While Kruzelnick felt humiliated, degraded and abused by Napolitano, he also felt that he was powerless to stop the abuse,” the lawsuit explains. “If he refused to do what Napolitano wanted him to do, then Napolitano would refuse to help out his brother [who] would go to jail.”
At that time, his brother was battling a criminal case and the judge offered to help them with their legal problems in exchange for sex acts. “I have fixed cases, and I have gotten people off. I have sent people away,” Napolitano allegedly told the waiter who claimed to be facing discrimination at work due to his sexual orientation.
The lawsuit also describes another incident involving an alleged threesome act:
This was not the first time that Napolitano had brought a young man from Fox News to the Mohawk House for dinner. But it was the first time that Napolitano had actually introduced the young man to Kruzelnick, and had made plans with him that involved an intern from Fox News. Specifically, that evening Napolitano invited Kruzelnick and the Fox News intern back to his home. Shortly after arriving at Napolitano’s home, he was given a drink and within ten to fifteen minutes of consuming the beverage, Kruzelnick felt extremely woozy as if he had been drugged. He woke up hours later in Napolitano’s bed, with blurred memories of engaging in a sexual threesome with Napolitano and the Fox news intern.
Until 2017, Napolitano “continued to exert severe psychological domination and control” over Kruzelnick, the legal documents state.
What Napolitano has to say
In an official statement, Napolitano denied all the allegations on September 11, 2020 and said, “These accusations are completely false. Full stop. I have never done anything like what the accuser describes, at any time, to anyone, for any reason.” He also added, “I have never had any personal relationship or inappropriate contact or communication of any kind with the man making this accusation. Each and every one of his claims against me are pure fiction. Period.”
At that time, Fox News released a statement to DailyMail.com saying: “Judge Napolitano has assured us in the strongest possible terms that these allegations are false and he will fight them aggressively in court.”
After the second set of claims, Napolitano's lawyer denied it on Monday, September 28, 2020. “These allegations are total fiction, and Judge Napolitano unequivocally denies them,” Tom Clare told DailyMail.com. “This copycat lawsuit, filed and promoted publicly by the same lawyers representing career criminal Charles Corbishley, is nothing more than a pile-on attempt to smear Judge Napolitano for their own financial gain. We will defeat these false allegations in court and look forward to exposing this continuing attempt to abuse our court system to smear a highly-respected former public servant.”