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Family court judge recuses herself after alleged messages on ‘swingers dating app’ made public

February 3, 2024 | | Print Article

Attempting a tryst, a New York City judge was forced to recuse herself from a custody case after timely app advances to a mom were made public.

With tenure spanning two mayoral administrations, Judge Cynthia Lopez, 47, was formally appointed to the Bronx County Family Court by NYC Mayor Eric Adams (D) in January after roughly three years of interim service. That appointment, according to the New York Post, was readily marred during a recent teleconference with Sidney Southerland’s attorney when the judge announced her recusal, having allegedly reached out to the woman on a swingers’ app.

In addition to posting screenshots to social media, said to have been taken from messaging within the “sexually free singles” app 3Fun, Southerland told The Post how the account under the name “Cyn” with images appearing to be the judge in a black negligee and heels had contacted her on Jan. 24 with a message that read, “GM. Am Cynthia. How are you?”

“POV: you’re currently going to family court and the judge who act like she hates you, inboxes you on a swingers dating app … a week before the next court date,” a video pulled from TikTok said, displaying images from the account and messages.

Southerland detailed how she had used her own image on the app but went by “Chyna” as she detailed the account purported to be Lopez’s described her as bisexual with a male partner named “Ant.”

“We are a full swap [couple] in an [ethical non-monogamy] dynamic looking to have some hot sexy fun with other full swap [couples] and single ladies,” read the account. “We love thick girls just as much as we love petite girls! At the end of the day it’s all about personality. Guys at the most should be stocky and I the female, prefer males to be somewhat endowed.”

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With her custody case spanning two years, Southerland was reported to have said, “B*tch, you know who the f*ck I am,” before “Cyn” had blocked her.

“I plan to file a complaint,” she told The Post, alleging the judge was slow-walking her custody case as part of an attempt to get her in bed. “She just wanted to see me. There was some kind of attraction and I am disturbed by that. I was fighting for my kids for two years and you’re giving me a hard time because of some sexual attraction.”

The newspaper went on to detail that Southerland, who claimed to have been married nine times, had previously pled guilty to assault three times between 2015 and 2017, including one incident where she streamed on Facebook with a bloodied man on the floor behind her, “THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED WHEN A N–GA CHEATS ON YOU. YOU F–KING CUT HIM. SAY MY NAME, SAY MY NAME AND I’LL F–KING CUT YOUR THROAT. I F–CKING CUT YOU. YOU WANT TO CHEAT ON A N–GA. YOU WANT TO F–K SOME OTHER B*THCES.”

In a 2015 case, Southerland was said to have thrown her then one-year-old daughter into the air resulting in two skull fractures after the toss caused her to “land on the floor face-up,” the criminal complaint detailed.

Her custody fight for her two children, now nine and four, followed the Administration for Children’s Services taking them in Feb. 2022 after Southerland, according to a court filing in Sept. 2022, was allegedly arrested in July 2021. However, the NYPD told the Post “There were no arrests on file.”

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Lopez declined to comment to the Post and directed inquiries to the Office of Court Administration which stated, “The Court has been made aware of this claim, and is reviewing it.”

Kevin Haggerty
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