A family court judge in the US Bronx abruptly withdrew from a child custody case after the mother involved publicly accused her of hitting on her via a swinging app .
Judge Cynthia Lopez, 47, announced her recusement from the case Monday during a brief virtual conference call with the mother in question, Sidney Southerland, and her attorney.
The shocking turn of events happened last week, Southerland claims, when a woman named “Cynthia” contacted her on 3Fun, “the leading app for sexually free singles.”
“GM” [Bon matin], the woman wrote in a message just before 8 a.m. on January 24. “I’m Cynthia. How are you doing?”
Photo taken from latinojudgesassociation.org
Ms Southerland – who goes by Chyna on the app, but uses her real photo – provided the New York Post with a screenshot of the alleged message, as well as the sender’s purported profile, which shows a photo of the Judge Lopez, wearing only black heels and a black negligee, sat cross-legged on a couch.
The profile states that the woman is bisexual and that 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 is looking for sexy fun with other swinging couples,” it read.
Ms. Southerland didn’t mince words in her response: “S****, you know who I am.”
Photo taken from 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,” added the principal, who suggested that Judge Lopez was slowing down her child custody case because she was trying to get her into bed.
“She just wanted to see me. There was some sort of attraction and it disturbs me. I fought for my children for two years and you are giving me a hard time because of a certain sexual attraction,” she analyzed.
The mother made her complaint public in a video on TikTok and X, two days after allegedly receiving the first invitation.
“The judge, who acts like she hates you, messages you on a swingers dating app… a week before the next court date,” Ms. Southerland wrote.
The TikTok post was quickly forwarded to the city’s Department of Children’s Services, which in turn referred the matter to the state’s Office of Court Administration.