Judge Tracy Green, center. (Campaign photo)
A family court lawyer-turned judge is under fire for allegedly hiding her son's abuse of her 10-year-old grandson, which was so severe it reportedly led Child Protective Services to take the kids from the home and the father to be convicted of neglect.
Tracy Green's job is to protect abused kids, Fox 2's ML Elrick reports, but her grandson says she did nothing to help him. Even worse, he claims she used make up to cover up bruises left behind by his dad. Green denies any cover-up.
A 911 call from last summer highlights how bad the beatings were:
"He was beating his kids like, I'm talking about, he's been beating them for like 45 minutes. And this is like beyond a whooping. He was over there screaming and telling them, like, how he blacked their mama's eyes, he would kill everybody," the caller said.
A second caller said the ruckus interrupted her slumber:
"Woke me up out my sleep he was beating these kids so bad."
Testimony in Green's son's custody case suggests she had some knowledge of what was going on:
A child welfare worker reported that Green told her she once heard her son yelling at one of her grandsons, heard a slapping sound, and saw a handprint on the boy's face. That would suggest that she had some awareness that her grandkids were being hit.
"It certainly would suggest, but regarding the comments that are attributed to me, I never said that. Not even anything close to that," Green said.
Green was called as a witness in her son's custody case. When asked about that report, she acknowledged seeing a handprint on her grandson's face - and denied the rest.
When the prosecutor asked Judge Green if she remembered telling a child welfare worker that she had spoken with her son "about how he disciplined the children," she said: "I don't specifically remember that, but I don't dispute it."
She also testified that the children told her they were spanked, but she never asked what that meant.
She also testified, under oath, that she did not use makeup to cover any bruises.
A criminal investigation is underway into Green's son's actions. If it emerges that Green lied under oath, it could catch the attention of the Judicial Tenure Commission, which polices judges.
