Judge's husband tells inquiry of sexual fantasies

The husband of a Manitoba judge under investigation for nude photos is steadfastly defending her, saying she was unaware that the photos were being shared on the Internet.

Jack King is testifying for a second day in Winnipeg at the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) inquiry into the conduct of his wife, Associate Chief Justice Lori Douglas.

But it was King's conduct in the spotlight Tuesday, as he discussed the explicit photos he took of Douglas and posted online.

King has told the inquiry that he began taking the photos in 1996 and started posting some online in 2002, while Douglas was still a lawyer. 

Questioned by independent counsel Guy Pratte, King said he began surfing the porn website Dark Cavern in 2000.

The website, designed to arrange interracial sexual encounters, has a section called wives and black lovers. King said he posted 35 photos of Douglas there.

When Pratte asked why, King said that he had a fantasy of a threesome of an interracial nature.

King said he placed an ad on the site in 2002, looking for a black man to join the couple in Mexico. When asked if people viewing the photos could recognize Douglas, if they knew her, King admitted "shame and stupidity" for not blacking out her face.

Flipping through a folder of photos while on the stand, King blamed a "pursuit of some absolutely bizarre sexual behaviour on my part, self gratification on my part," for posting the photos of his wife.

"My judgment in this regard had left me," he added. 

King has already admitted to sending some of those nude photos to a former client of his, Alex Chapman, and trying to lure Chapman to have sex with Douglas.

Chapman, who is black, has described the photos of Douglas in various forms of bondage, with sex toys and performing oral sex.

Douglas was appointed a judge of the Court of Queen's Bench (family division) in 2005 and later promoted to associate chief justice of the Court of Queen's Bench (family division), in 2009.

The inquiry is looking at whether Douglas disclosed the matter involving Chapman when she was appointed, and whether the existence of the photos should disqualify her from continuing as a judge.

Whether Douglas knew what her husband was up to and should she have disclosed the story when she was applying to be a judge are the central issues in the CJC inquiry.

During the application process to become a judge, one of the screening questions asks applicants if there is anything in their background that would negatively impact the judiciary.

Douglas answered "no" on her application.

King maintains he acted without his wife's knowledge.

He said Douglas never asked what he was doing with the photos, how they were developed or whether they were being shown to anyone else.

"She had no idea until June 2003 that I had posted any pictures on the internet," he said, adding Douglas was distraught and horrified to learn he had done so. 

Of the photos, about 10 were Polaroids, 36 were on regular film that had to be developed and the rest were digital.

King had the regular film developed by a person whose name he got somewhere. The person did it in his home and King kept the negatives in his office, in a locked drawer.

He destroyed the negatives in 2003.