Tarrant County Judge Reprimanded for Sexual Harassment

FORT WORTH, TX — A Tarrant County family law judge was reprimanded recently by the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct for sexual harassment of his colleagues.

Judge Jesus "Jesse" Nevarez testified he was never informed that calling women "babe" was inappropriate.

Nevarez appeared before the commission in June to respond to allegations he had engaged in a pattern of sexually harassing conduct against Judge Lindsay DeVos Slinkard and an attorney.

The commission's ruling stated that text messages from Nevarez to Devos from December 2021-June 2022 contained references to DeVos such as "babe," "hon" and "beautiful." 

When DeVos resigned in August 2022, she made an audio recording of her resignation, and Nevarez referred to her as "baby" twice during the conversation. He also stated that he has "loved (DeVos) forever."

Two confidential sources expressed witnessing Nevarez's inappropriate conduct with DeVos, according to the commission's findings.

DeVos also stated that Nevarez said she looked "very nice" and "I like it. It looks good," when she wore dresses to work.

An attorney stated she also felt sexually harassed by Nevarez when he provided her with his personal cell phone number so she could contact him at the courthouse if she needed help. She said he also sent her a personal Facebook message.

The commission ultimately didn't feel Nevarez's conduct rose to the level of removing him from his position or a suspension, but they did issue a public warning and ordered him to obtain four hours of instruction with a mentor, two hours of additional education in the area of demeanor, and two hours of additional education in the area of sexual harassment.