GUILTY NJ - Judge Stephen Thompson for child *advertiser censored*, Haddon Twp, 2003

But he never talked about what prosecutors contend was the true purpose of his trip to Russia in September 2002.

While there, Thompson admitted during evaluation and counseling sessions with psychiatrists, he met with a teenage boy in his St. Petersburg hotel.

He filmed himself and the boy engaging in sex acts. The tape continued for 40 minutes.

State police arrested Thompson, 59, in April 2003 and charged him with possession of child *advertiser censored*, including the videotape he made and carried back with him to his home.

Jury selection in his trial -- now being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office -- is scheduled to start Wednesday and could last more than a week. Jurors will be told the trial could last until mid-October.

He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.

Thompson, a Haddonfield native who resigned from the bench after his arrest, had been a state judge for 14 years. At the time of his arrest, he was assigned to the criminal division and was responsible for hearing cases involving violations of the state's Megan Law, which requires convicted sex offenders to register with police.

Thompson's defense attorneys, Leonard Baker and Edwin Jacobs, filed notice they would present an insanity defense.
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050906/NEWS01/509060336/1006

Jurors who will decide the case of a former Superior Court judge charged with possession of child *advertiser censored* were noticeably uncomfortable Thursday as prosecutors spent three hours displaying a series of photos seized from the defendant. They also viewed a videotape of defendant Stephen W. Thompson's 2002 sexual encounter with a teenage boy in Russia.

As the images were shown on widescreen televisions on either side of the jury box, most jurors -- who were instructed to look at each piece of evidence -- glanced at each one for only a second before looking away.

U.S. District Judge Joseph E. Irenas, who has a separate monitor on his bench, kept his head down, apparently taking notes.

Thompson, 59, of Haddon Township, looked at each image while sitting next to his attorney, Leonard S. Baker. Authorities say Thompson possessed thousands of images of young boys engaged in sexual activity.
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050916/NEWS01/509160359/1006

A federal jury yesterday convicted a former state judge of traveling to Russia to have sex with a teenage boy but said insanity led the Vietnam veteran to acquire a collection of child *advertiser censored*.
Judge Stephen Thompson was found guilty of exploitation of a child but not guilty by reason of insanity for possession of child *advertiser censored*, said Greg Reinert, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Thompson, 59, is being held at a federal detention center in Philadelphia. He is expected to be moved to a North Carolina facility, where he will undergo psychiatric evaluation, required by the insanity decision, Reinert said.
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/54455.htm

From May 2009:

http://www.capemaycountyherald.com/article/49997-state+supreme+court+disbars+pedophile+judge

The state’s top court took action earlier this year to make sure a former Superior Court Judge serving time in federal prison for sex crimes can never practice law again.

According to the state Office of Attorney Ethics quarterly discipline report released Monday, May 18, Stephen W. Thompson, 62, of Avalon and Haddon Township, was disbarred by the New Jersey Supreme Court on Jan. 27 after his case was heard on Jan. 20...

In 2006, Thompson was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison and fined $25,000 for his crimes.

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