A federal judge was arrested at his Miami-Dade home Tuesday after he allegedly pointed a gun at the mother of his son and tried to run away from officers.
Judge Timothy Robert Maher, 51, was arrested later Tuesday on charges including aggravated assault with a firearm, child abuse causing no great bodily harm and resisting an officer without violence, according to an arrest report.
Maher denied the accusations when he appeared in court Wednesday, calling them "horrifically embarrassing." He told the judge he didn't have a gun on him on Tuesday, as the woman alleged.
According to the report, the mother of Maher's child, who shares joint custody with him, arrived to pick up the boy at Maher's home Tuesday. Maher and the woman had lived together for nearly four years but broke up in April, the report said.
The woman said she texted Maher when she arrived at his home and he walked out of the house carrying their son in his left arm and had a holstered pistol on his right hip, the report said.
As Maher approached her, she said he shined a flashlight toward her face and told her, "I'm going to show you what pain is about," as their son was crying, the report said.
Maher handed over the child but kept shining the flashlight at her, according to the report, and she called 911 and started to drive away. While on the phone with the 911 operator, she saw Maher walk out of his home with a "long barrel gun" and saw a "red laser" pointed toward her car, and as she drove away she saw Maher pointing the gun at her, the report said.
When officers arrived, Maher wouldn't answer the door but an officer saw him inside his home trying to hide behind a wall, the report said. Officers set up a perimeter around the home and made contact with Maher over the phone and convinced him to come outside after about an hour, the report said.
Maher stayed on his porch and an officer was able to grab his arm but Maher allegedly pulled away and tried to run back into the home. The officer was able to bring him to the ground and took him into custody, the report said.
Maher was booked into jail and appeared before Miami-Dade Judge Renatha Francis Wednesday morning, where he vehemently denied the charges.
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"Your honor, just like you, I am a judge, I'm a federal judge, I've been a judge for over 10 years, before that I spent 15 years as a United States attorney and senior trial counsel to the Treasury Department," Maher said.
Maher said he has been dealing with issues with his son's mother for the past three months.
"The accusations that were made against me are entirely false and fictitious. The mother of my child has called the police to my house on not less than five occasions prior to last night, each time making more incendiary and more fantastic allegations against me," Maher said. "I did not have a gun on me last night, I did not point a gun at anyone, I was handing my son over to his mother."
Maher said the woman has called the Department of Children and Families to his home to perform a search and even alleged he was not the boy's father.
"This is horrifically embarrassing to me, it is career-threatening," he told the judge.
Francis ordered Maher held on $13,000 bond and ordered him to stay away from his child.
