Hounded by press - Judge commits suicide

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A Seattle judge killed himself in August after learning allegations of sexual misconduct would be published in a local paper. Judge Gary Little had earlier withdrawn from the campaign for Superior Court Judge of King County when challenger Tom Olmstead raised the issue of Little's out-of-court contact with juvenile defendants in 1985. [...] But when he [Gary Little] learned the Seattle Post-Intelligencer planned to print a story with allegations by five men that they had been "coerced" into having sex with him, the judge decided to kill himself. Friends said he felt hounded by the press and unable to bear it anymore. Little shot himself in the head, leaving a note that read: "I have chosen to take my life. It's an appropriate end to the present situation. I had hoped that my decision to withdraw from the election and leave public life would have closed the matter. Apparently these steps are not satisfactory to those who feel more is required, so be it."

source: Article < 'Hounded by Press,' Judge Commits Suicide > by Chris Farrell; NAMBLA Bulletin, vol. 9, n. 8; October 1988