Democrat-nominated California judge accused of sex attacks on multiple women before cover-up

A former California judge has been accused of sexually assaulting two female court employees and then trying to cover his tracks with a series of false statements and a phony alibi, federal authorities said.

Adolfo Corona, 66, a Fresno County Superior Court judge appointed by former Democratic California Gov. Gray Davis, is facing a five-count federal indictment stemming from the allegations.

A federal indictment accuses Corona of sexually assaulting a 33-year-old court employee in a courthouse stairwell on March 14, 2024, while he was on the bench.

Prosecutors allege Corona led the woman into the stairwell before assaulting her, accordring to the August 2025 compaint reviewed by the California Post.

He is also accused of giving false accounts about what happened when questioned by FBI agents and court administrators. 

The case also involves a second woman, a 43-year-old court employee who prosecutors allege was sexually assaulted in Corona’s chambers several months earlier.

According to federal prosecutors, Corona was alone with the woman in his chambers for roughly two hours on Dec. 5, 2023. She was later found alone in the judge’s chambers after apparently passing out, according to the indictment.

Corona allegedly told investigators that he had left the woman alone while he went to pick up a motorcycle.

Prosecutors claim he then tried to persuade an employee at a motorcycle dealership to alter company records that would support his alleged alibi. 

A federal grand jury returned the indictment in August 2025, and the federal case was formally filed in the Eastern District of California on Aug. 21, 2025. 

There is no plea deal on the table, and the case is now moving toward a trial that could come nearly three years after the alleged assaults, ABC 30 reported. 

If convicted, Corona faces a maximum of 40 years in prison on the sexual-assault charge and up to 20 years on each obstruction charge, according to the Justice Department. 

During a status conference Wednesday, prosecutors requested that a trial-confirmation hearing be held on July 26, 2027, with a federal jury trial to follow in August.

The federal charges came after Corona had already been indicted by a Fresno County grand jury in connection with the March 2024 allegations.

That earlier indictment charged him with sexual penetration by force, fear or duress and sexual battery. Corona had pleaded not guilty to those state charges. 

Corona was appointed to the Fresno County Superior Court in 2003 by then-Gov. Davis and was subsequently reelected several times.

He retired in April 2024, shortly after the alleged March assault.