Sucks to be Gary Block

We believe the technical term for this pose is "deer in the headlights."

It's been a tough year for Harris County Criminal Court-at-Law Judge Gary Block. Then again, there are plenty of people who say he deserves it.

Block was beaten in a re-election attempt in the GOP primary last March. His opponent, Lucci Smith, ran at least in part because of claims of sexual harassment made against Block.

In the definition of a "sweetheart deal," the generally toothless Commission on Judicial Conduct allowed Block to resign his seat — one day before Smith took over January 1 — in order to avoid facing disciplinary charges. He can't be a judge again, but he's free to be a lawyer.

The always-entertaining blog of Fox 26 reporter Isiah Carey — who never met an exclamation point he couldn't use three or four times — has the latest details on one of the alleged incidents, filed in a lawsuit Friday.

Among the highlights: Block invites a female lawyer into his office, "tries to place his face in her vagina area on top of her clothes in a sexually offensive manner," and then — the money shot:

"Defendant then pulls his penis out of his pants and begins to masturbate rapidly and grabs Plaintiff's hand without her consent as he continued to masturbate and ejaculate on her."

More distressing, though, are the comments from the readers of the blog. Their sober, considered judgment appears to be: Bitch deserved it. -- Richard Connelly