Pocono News Section

President Judge: Decision on Rehkamp Coming Very Soon

President Judge: Decision on Rehkamp Coming Very Soon - Monday, January 18, 2010 at 5:50PM EST

Reported by: Andy Mehalshick
Monday, Jan 18, 2010 @ 05:50pm EST
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY -- There's reaction and lots of questions after a Luzerne County judge is accused of domestic violence.

Eyewitness News was first to break the story about the arrest of Senior Judge Charles Rehkamp Sunday evening. He was brought in handcuffs to district court, accused of assaulting his wife in their Plymouth Township home Saturday night.

He's charged with simple assault and harassment. He is the fourth Luzerne County judge on the wrong side of the law in the past year. Three of them were nabbed in the ongoing federal corruption probe. Now Rehkamp faces domestic violence charges.

His arrest stunned Luzerne County President Judge Thomas Burke. "I was both very surprised and very disappointed. Judge Rehkamp has been with us in Luzerne County for the past couple of months. He has served us ably and has been a great assistance to our courts," said Burke.

Judge Rehkamp is handling high profile murder cases like that of Hugo Selenski, who is accused of killing two people, and Donnell Buckner of Wilkes-Barre, who is accused of killing his estranged wife in front of her three children.

Judge Burke says Judge RehkampÕs fate on the bench will be decided very soon, possibly as early as Tuesday.

"Both the AOPC [Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts] and the state Supreme Court have jurisdiction to weigh in on such matters and ultimately it would be my responsibility as Presiding Judge in Luzerne County to determine what cases he would be able to handle as we are going forward," said Burke.