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The state Judicial Conduct Board has filed ethics charges against Greene County President Judge Farley Toothman for two instances of alleged retaliation against a woman assigned to community service and a courthouse janitor, as well as mishandling cases.

Charges were announced Tuesday by the JCB.

According to the board's complaint, Toothman's law clerk, Alexsandra Chamberlain, had been shopping in the convenience store of a local Sunoco gas station when another customer, Christy McCarty, questioned Chamberlain about her activities in the store. According to the complaint, Chamberlain took McCarty's questioning as an accusation of theft and both store clerks working at the time told Chamberlain they were also suspicious of her behavior and planned to report it to their manager so that he could check the surveillance footage. Upon returning to the courthouse, Chamberlain told Toothman about the incident.

Toothman, along with his son and Chamberlain, returned to the store to speak to the clerks, who subsequently asked the trio to leave because they felt "harassed," according to the complaint. Toothman called the police, who investigated the scene but did not find a reason to file charges.

Afterward, Toothman had his staff pull up McCarty's criminal record. He discovered that she was doing community service stemming from a magisterial case. According to the complaint, Toothman ordered a hearing with no attorneys present and found McCarty in civil contempt for failing to honor a $10 per month payment plan in her case.

Toothman sent McCarty to Greene County prison Sept. 7, 2017, where she stayed for nearly a month before the judge ordered her release, after asking if she was ready "to be a good girl."

The judge is also charged with retaliating against courthouse janitor Waynette Pellegrini, for her refusal to sign a confidentiality agreement and for filing of a grievance with her union claiming nonunion workers were employed in his chambers, in violation of a union contract.

The complaint alleges that Toothman posted a bright orange copy of Pellegrini's grievance on the courthouse's public bulletin board. County officials told Toothman that his actions could be viewed as retaliation.

According the complaint, Toothman replied, "You think I'm going to retaliate? You're damned right I'm going to retaliate!"

Additionally, Toothman is charged with failing to maintain decorum in a civil case, for closing a courtroom to the public in another case, and for unilaterally modifying court rules regarding the collections of divorce filing fees.

Toothman said in an email that he regrets any complaints about his performance.

"This is a difficult job, and sometimes a very frustrating job.  Though I try to do my best with all that each day brings to me, I know that I make mistakes.  I respect the system within which I work, and I will comply with the process."

However, the JCB did not pull any punches.

"Judge Toothman engaged in conduct beyond the reasonable expectations of the public as to the behavior of judicial officers, conduct that was so extreme that it brings the judicial office itself into disrepute," the board said in its complaint.

According to his court biography, Toothman worked as a county solicitor from 2004 until his appointment. He was also solicitor for Greensboro and Waynesburg boroughs, where he maintained a private practice. From 1996 to 2003, Toothman served two terms as a Greene County commissioner.

Toothman still sits as Greene County's president judge. He has been on the county bench since 2009, appointed by then-Gov. Ed Rendell to replace retired Judge Terry Grimes.