Tacoma judge found guilty | Crime

Pierce County Judge Michael Hecht was found guilty Wednesday of harassment and patronizing a prostitute.

Hecht was accused of paying one man for sex multiple times and threatening another man who talked about having sex with him.

When he took the stand, Hecht denied the allegations, saying he's not a sex client but a grandfatherly type just trying to help people.

"He was on the street, he would come over and try to bum change, bum money," Hecht said of the key witness in the case against him, Joseph Pfeiffer.

Pfeiffer testified that Hecht paid him for sex many times.

Pfeiffer said he would hang out on antique row and Hecht would come and pick him up in his car. He claims the two would go to a law office in north Tacoma after business hours where they would have sex.

Hecht said he never made a death threat against another male prostitute, Joey Hesketh. He insisted he didn't know Hesketh before he confronted him in an alley last year.

The jury took about a day to return the guilty verdicts. Hecht is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 19.