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Pa. disciplinary court bars ex-district judge from taking bench ever again

Paula Reed Ward
By Paula Reed Ward
2 Min Read Nov. 7, 2024 | 1 year Ago
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A former Allegheny County district judge who resigned earlier this year will never again serve on the bench, the state Court of Judicial Discipline said on Thursday.

Anthony Saveikis, 57, of Coraopolis, stepped down from his position in January but had been on leave for more than a year before that after being accused of engaging in improper conduct with teenage boys.

No criminal charges were ever filed.

According to an order issued by the Court of Judicial Discipline on Thursday, Saveikis stipulated to the facts alleged against him, including bringing disrepute to the office and failure to promote confidence in the judiciary.

The court ordered that Saveikis be “severely censured and that his resignation and pledge not to ever serve as a judge again are binding and irrevocable.”

The court has jurisdiction over all judicial officers in Pennsylvania. It hears and decides formal charges filed against district judges and judges in Common Pleas, Superior and Commonwealth courts as well as the state Supreme Court.

Saveikis, who had served as a district judge since January 2002, was accused of interacting with three different teenage boys in 2018 and 2022.

In one instance, the complaint alleged that Saveikis approached an unidentified 17-year-old working at Janoski’s Country Restaurant, asked him personal questions, followed him into a closed freezer and touched the boy’s shoulders, arms and back.

Then in 2022, a juvenile who appeared before Saveikis was sentenced to 25 hours of community service to be completed at a local fair.

While at the fair, Saveikis often went to speak with him. He also was said to visit the boy at a gas station where he worked, offering to take him out after his shifts and texting him.

In another instance, Saveikis sought out a 14-year-old whose case he presided over, while the boy worked at the Findlay Fair. He took the boy to a restaurant for lunch without parental permission and then walked with him “arm in arm.”

According to records in the disciplinary case, Saveikis, who had a substance abuse problem, worked with an organization called Judges Concerned for Judges which arranged an inpatient treatment program for him.

Saveikis was charged with driving under the influence in September, and the case remains pending.

Saveikis’ attorney, Robert Del Greco, said the Allegheny County Police and District Attorney’s Office investigated the allegations against his client, and he was cleared of any wrongdoing.

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