For more than two decades, Scott Berkowitz has worked endlessly to create a network for sexual assault victims to have resources readily available and to educate members of the justice system on how to handle the sensitive cases.

So when Berkowitz, the founder of the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), the nation’s largest nonprofit anti-sexual assault organization, read that a Monmouth County Superior Court Judge described a 16-year-old, who is accused of recording himself sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl, as a teenager who “comes from a good family who put him in an excellent school,” he was taken aback.

“My first reaction was, ‘What year is this?’” said Berkowitz, who is based in Washington, D.C. “The culture has come so far and there has been so much training and education of judges across the country over the last couple of decades. Usually, these days, you don’t find ones so misinformed and so misguided.”

Two New Jersey judges garnered national attention last week after reports surfaced detailing how they handled cases in which they denied waivers to try two 16-year-olds in adult court who are accused of sexual assault in separate cases.

In both cases, the judges made comments downplaying the seriousness of the alleged crimes in way that could be viewed as “demoralizing and discouraging” for sexual assault victims who are considering pressing charges against their assailant, Berkowitz said.

In denying the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office’s waiver, Superior Court Judge James Troiano expressed concern about “the devastating effect a waiver would have on G.M.C.’s life." The teen has been accused of recording himself sexually assaulting an intoxicated 16-year-old girl then sending the video to his friends.

Similarly, Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Marcia Silva described the circumstances around a 16-year-old allegedly raping a 12-year-old as “not an especially heinous or cruel offense beyond the elements of the crimes that the waiver statute intends to target.”

State appellate court judges reversed the decisions by both judges, and the cases will be waived up to adult court.

Even with the appellate decision, Berkowitz said the comments are damaging because sexual assault victims are often reliant on judges to be impartial as defense attorneys fight for their client and challenge the victim.

“It is hard to go through this process for a victim,” Berkowitz said. “It is a lot of work. It means having to tell your story dozens of times and having to relive it. No one does this for fun. They do this because is the only way to get justice. The judge has such an important role in the process because you expect to get justice.”

The recent comments by the judges are the latest example of what anti-sexual assault organizations and survivor advocacy groups say is the mishandling of cases in New Jersey that has pronounced effects on victims and plays a role in why nearly 80 percent of rapes go unreported nationwide, according to Justice Department research.

“These types of comments are everything survivors fear when reporting a sexual assault: victim blaming, minimizing the impacts of the crimes committed against them and not being believed,” said Patricia Teffenhart, the executive director of the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault. “These stories are illustrative of the enormous amount that victims and survivors of sexual violence are up against.”

And New Jersey residents have taken notice. The comments are spurring a protest and public officials calling for the judges to be removed from the bench.

Nancy Love, the co-founder of Rutgers Progressive, is hosting a protest Thursday morning at the Monmouth County courthouse to push for the removal of both judges for their comments.

“I was furious, heartbroken,” Love said in an email. “Both Judge Troiano and Silva downplayed and belittled the trauma and suffering of underage survivors. To simultaneously humanize the perpetrator and ignore the survivor’s humanity is far from fair — it’s ignorant, it’s cruel and it’s dangerous.”

Four Middlesex County state senators have called for the removal of Silva from the county’s Superior Court bench. Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, has said both judges should be removed.

“Their conduct is unacceptable," Weinberg said last week. "There is no place for this parochial, dismissive and sexist behavior in our justice system.

It is not the first time judge in a sexual assault case has been under fire for comments. On Tuesday, Superior Court Judge John Russo Jr. will be disciplined after comments he made to a rape victim in 2016 recently received widespread attention.

Russo Jr. asked the woman if she attempted to close her legs in order to prevent being attacked. A Supreme Court advisory panel recommended he be suspended for three months.

On Monday, Gov. Phil Murphy the judges’ comments were “extremely troubling,” though he did not call for the judges to resign. He instead said he supports an investigation by the state’s judicial oversight committee, which could lead to the judges being removed.

“We are and claim to be a survivor-centric state, and those comments are completely at odds with that notion," the Democratic governor said.

However, Murphy’s administration has been marred by an investigation that found his administration was “more concerned with avoiding negative publicity than following proper protocols and getting to the truth of the matter” after a top campaign staffer was accused of raping Katie Brennan, chief of staff to the Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency.

Brennan has said that she was attacked by Albert J. Alvarez in her apartment after a campaign gathering in April 2017. Alvarez has denied the allegations and was not charged with a crime after two criminal investigations.

The report said that senior Murphy officials failed Brennan “every step of the way.”

In a response to the June report, Brennan said the findings were evidence “that sexual violence survivors in this state still cannot expect to receive justice.”

NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed reporting to this report.

Joe Atmonavage may be reached at jatmonavage@njadvancemedia.com. Follow on Twitter @monavage. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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