Adolfo Corona, 66, faces a five-count federal indictment over allegations he sexually assaulted two court employees and fabricated an alibi to obstruct the investigation.
The former Fresno County Superior Court judge is accused of leading a 33-year-old court employee into a courthouse stairwell on March 14, 2024, and assaulting her while he was still on the bench. Prosecutors detailed the allegations in an August 2025 complaint reviewed by the California Post.
That same month, Corona retired from the bench he had held since 2003, when former Democratic California Gov. Gray Davis appointed him. He had won reelection several times in the intervening years.
The federal case, formally filed in the Eastern District of California on Aug. 21, also covers a second alleged victim. A 43-year-old court employee was found alone in Corona’s chambers on Dec. 5, 2023, after apparently passing out, according to the indictment. Prosecutors allege Corona had been alone with her for roughly two hours before the incident.
When FBI agents and court administrators questioned him, Corona allegedly gave false accounts about both incidents. Regarding the December 2023 episode, he claimed he had left the woman alone while he went to pick up a motorcycle.
Prosecutors say he then attempted to persuade an employee at a motorcycle dealership to alter company records to support that supposed alibi.
A federal grand jury returned the indictment in August 2025. Corona had already been indicted by a Fresno County grand jury in connection with the March 2024 allegations, charging him with sexual penetration by force, fear or duress and sexual battery. He pleaded not guilty to those state charges.
There is no plea deal on the table, and the federal case is now moving toward trial 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.