A former Fresno County Superior Court judge faces additional charges over allegations he sexually assaulted two court employees and tried to obstruct the investigations into the assaults.
Former Judge Adolfo Corona, 66, was indicted last year by a Fresno grand jury on charges of sexual battery and forced sexual penetration for an alleged assault in March 2024.
He was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury over the March assault and now faces additional assault charges over an alleged December 2023 assault and efforts to obstruct the crime. The case will be prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Atty. Karen Escobar and Special Litigation Counsel Michael J. Songer.
Corona retired in April 2024, ending his 11-year career before the first indictments were filed.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, on March 14, 2024, Corona allegedly led a court employee into a stairwell where he sexually assaulted her. After the assault, federal prosecutors say Corona lied to the FBI and court administrators about the circumstances of the incident.
About three months prior, in December 2023, prosecutors say Corona was alone in his chambers with another court employee for two hours. She was later found passed out and alone in the chambers, according to the indictment.
The indictment alleges that Corona lied to the FBI, claiming that he had left the woman alone in his chambers to drive to a dealership and pick up a motorcycle.
At the motorcycle dealership, prosecutors say that Corona tried to convince a dealership employee to falsify company records to say that he had picked up his motorcycle to support the alibi.
He was first indicted by a Fresno grand jury in September 2024 for two charges of sexual battery and sexual penetration by fear or force and pleaded not guilty.
The latest DOJ allegations have resulted in charges of sexual assault, making false statements to cover up the crimes, and obstructing the investigation into his alleged assault in court chambers.
If convicted, Corona could face up to 80 years in prison.
Corona has been the center of controversy before. In 2017, he sentenced a sexual abuser to a no-jail sentence and probation after the accused was convicted of soliciting a 14-year-old for explicit photos.
Corona will be tried in federal court, although the date is not yet announced.
Any information about the investigation can be reported to the FBI at 1-800-225-5324 or to tips.fbi.gov.
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