A family judge in the US Bronx abruptly withdrew from a custody case after the mother involved publicly accused her of harassing her via a swingers app.
Judge Cynthia Lopez, 47, announced Monday that she is withdrawing from the case during a brief virtual conference call with the mother in question, Sidney Southerland, and her attorney.
The shocking turn of events occurred last week, Southerland claims, when a woman named “Cynthia” contacted her on 3Fun, “the leading app for sexually liberated singles.”
“GM” [Bon matin], the woman wrote in a message just before 8 a.m. on Jan. 24. “I’m Cynthia. How are you doing?”
Photo from latinojudgesassociation.org
Ms. Southerland, who is known on the app as Chyna but uses her real photo, provided The New York Post with a screenshot of the alleged message as well as the sender's alleged profile, which shows a photo of Judge Lopez dressed only in black high heels and a black negligee, sitting cross-legged on a couch.
The profile states that the woman is bisexual and her male partner is identified only as “Ant.”
The sender wasn't shy about what she was looking for, stating in her public profile: “We are a [couple] “Swinger in a non-monogamous dynamic who wants to have sexy fun with other swinger couples,” it said.
Ms. Southerland didn't mince her words in her response: “Shit, you know who I am.”
Photo taken by X | Sidney Southerland
The sender quickly blocked her, but not before Ms. Southerland managed to take photos of the initial exchange and the profile.
“I intend to file a complaint,” the principal added, suggesting that Judge Lopez slowed down her custody proceedings because she was trying to put her to bed.
“She just wanted to see me. There was some kind of attraction and it bothers me. I fought for my children for two years and you are making my life difficult because you have a certain sexual attraction,” she analyzed.
The mother made her complaint public in a video on TikTok and X, two days after she reportedly received the first invitation.
“The judge who acts like she hates you is sending you messages on a swinger dating app a week before your next court date,” Ms. Southerland wrote.
The TikTok post was quickly forwarded to the city's Department of Child Services, which in turn referred the matter to the state's Office of Court Administration.