Alberto Rivas, Middlesex County assignment judge (Photo: Courtesy Photo)

Middlesex County Assignment Judge Alberto Rivas has been censured for making inappropriate courtroom remarks and has voluntarily relinquished his leadership position, the Administrative Office of the Courts said Monday.

Rivas will serve as a judge in the Civil Division, and Chief Justice Stuart Rabner has appointed Michael Toto, criminal presiding judge in Middlesex County, to the position of assignment judge.

In opting to censure Rivas, the court adopted the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct. Under New Jersey's judicial discipline system, a censure is the harshest punishment a judge can receive short of a suspension.

Rivas, who was self-represented in the disciplinary case, was accused in an August 2019 complaint of humiliating and demeaning parties in his courtroom in a dispute involving a husband, wife and the husband's girlfriend.

In that case, the girlfriend filed an order to show cause seeking the return of a set of photos depicting her in various stages of undressing, which she claimed were possessed by the wife of her boyfriend.

At one point in the hearing, according to the documents, Rivas expressed doubt about the girlfriend's statement that she did not know where the wife was employed.

Rivas, the documents said, responded, "Baloney. That's not true. If you're screwing him—let's be frank now, because I should not be wasting judicial resources on this kind of malarkey. If you have been screwing him for these years, there's no question that you know where she works. That's how affairs work."

Rivas also said to the girlfriend, according to documents, "I will give you a piece of advice. … The only person you should be sending naked pictures to are [sic] Hugh Hefner. He will pay you $100,000 for the use of them."

In a presentment in February, the ACJC disclosed that Rivas' conduct was "aggravated considerably" by two private reprimands, in 2013 and 2014, for improper treatment of litigants.

Rivas could not be reached for comment on Monday.

Toto, 62, has served as a Superior Court judge in Middlesex County for 14 years. He was named presiding judge of the criminal division in 2017 and also served in the civil and family divisions. Before that, Toto served as a municipal judge for 17 years. He was the presiding judge of the Jamesburg Municipal Court and also served in the East Brunswick and Manalapan courts. Toto is a graduate of Rutgers University Law School.