A Maryland man was sentenced to three years in prison Friday for kidnapping and assaulting a female judge with whom he had been living.
Rickley Joshua Senning, now 25, was charged last year with kidnapping and assaulting 53-year-old Audrey Creighton following a domestic dispute in May 2014.
Creighton is a circuit court judge for Montgomery County.
Senning had faced more than 86 years. On Friday, he pleaded guilty to false imprisonment, second-degree assault and DUI. He was sentenced to 10 years with seven suspended. He will serve three years, less time served, followed by five years probation.
Court records show Creighton had served as Senning's public defender in a trespassing case when he was 19.
Police said last May that Senning assaulted the judge, then stole her car, with her inside it, and crashed the car near a supermarket on Darnestown Road in Germantown. Creighton was able to get away by jumping out of the car and running to a nearby store for help.
Following the incident, Creighton filed a protective order against him, saying he lived with her in her Montgomery County home during summer 2013 and for a brief period in early May. Creighton wrote that Senning had grabbed her head and yanked her during an argument.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
Senning's lawyer and sister indicated Creighton obstructed justice by making false statements to police in order to cover up her relationship with Senning. His lawyer said he thinks Creighton should step down.
Prosecutors said they don't believe false statements were made.
Creighton, who was just re-elected to a 15-year term, declined to comment.
