PORTSMOUTH — A retired Portsmouth judge and former state delegate has been charged with a misdemeanor sex offense for an incident alleged to have happened in June at a local country club.
William S. “Billy” Moore — a well-liked and respected judge who retired in 2014 — is charged with one count of sexual battery, according to an arrest warrant filed July 24 in Portsmouth District Court. The crime is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
The alleged victim in the case went to a magistrate last month to file a criminal complaint against him, according to court documents. She wrote that she’d approached Moore at the bar of the Elizabeth Manor Country Club on the evening of June 29 to talk to him about playing the card game bridge with his wife the next day.
“As I approached him he took my hand and put it on his genitals,” the woman wrote. “I snatched my hand away and walked away.”
The Virginian-Pilot is not naming the woman because she’s the victim of an alleged sex crime. She didn’t return a phone message seeking more information. Moore’s attorney, Warren Kozak, also didn’t respond to messages seeking comment, and Moore didn’t immediately answer an email sent by The Pilot.
Court records show the magistrate signed an arrest warrant for Moore on July 5, the same day the alleged victim filed her complaint. The document, however, indicates a summons wasn’t served on him until July 20. The judge’s address appears to have been redacted from the arrest warrant and criminal complaint with white-out tape, and his date of birth was not filled in on either record.
According to an online profile, Moore began his legal career in 1974 as a prosecutor and went into private practice five years later. In 1983, he was elected delegate of the 79th District of Virginia and served in that role for 14 years. He served as a Portsmouth Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court judge for 15 years, and as a Circuit Court judge for seven years before stepping down in 2014.
Since his retirement from the bench, Moore has frequently filled in for other judges while they’re away and also has worked as a mediator.
Jane Harper, [email protected]
