Judge in sex case decision off bench

The Bay State judge who last summer made the controversial decision to give a star athlete probation after he admitted to sexually assaulting two women as they slept has been moved to a different court and is not currently hearing cases, according to a spokeswoman for the trial courts.

Judge Thomas Estes, who formerly presided at the Eastern Hampshire District Court, has been administratively reassigned to Holyoke District Court, said Jennifer Donahue, spokeswoman for the trial courts. The decision was made Aug. 17, she said.

Administrative reassignment means that a judge is no longer hearing cases, and is doing research and other duties for the administrative office.

Estes last summer presided over the case of David Becker, a former star athlete at East Longmeadow High School who was accused of sexually assaulting two women as they were unconscious. After admitting to sufficient facts for two counts of indecent sexual assault, Estes gave Becker a two-year probationary continuance without a finding, known as a CWOF.

Getting a CWOF means Becker does not get a guilty conviction on his record. It also means the case effectively goes away if he does not violate the terms given by Estes for two years.

The punishment caused an uproar, and spurred an online petition where people demanded that Estes be removed from the bench. The petition was signed by 46,906 people before it closed.