Ex-judge gets 15 months
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, July 13th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
ASOTIN – Former Washington Superior Court Judge Scott Gallina was sentenced Monday in Asotin County Superior Court to 15 months in prison on sexual assault charges.
Gallina, who used to sit on the bench in Asotin, Garfield, and Columbia counties, agreed to a plea deal in April. He pleaded guilty to two counts of assault with sexual motivation. One count is in the third degree and is a felony. The second count, in the fourth degree, is a gross misdemeanor.
Gallina was arrested in 2019. At that time there were charges of sexual assault involving two women employed in the courthouse. There were also incidents involving nine women going back to 2014. The other charges against him, which included second-degree rape, are being dropped and cannot be brought against him in the future.
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said the victims in the case supported the plea deal.
“His victims’ remarkable courage made this outcome possible,” Ferguson wrote in a prepared statement when the original deal was announced. “I am grateful for their support of this resolution, which will spare them of having to recount their assaults under his guilty plea.”
The prosecution wanted Gallina to serve 27 months, but the judge ruled his two convictions would be served concurrently instead of consecutively. He will be on parole for three years and has to register as a sex offender for 10 years.
