STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- An outspoken Criminal Court judge who at one point broadcast specific details about his personal life on Facebook.com has been transferred from Staten Island to a position in Manhattan.

Judge Matthew A. Sciarrino Jr., a 41-year-old Staten Island resident, is being transferred from Stapleton to Manhattan as of Monday, said David Bookstaver, a spokesman with the city Office of Court Administration.

Bookstaver declined to comment on the reason for Sciarrino's transfer.

But several court insiders, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity, described several "issues" that had arisen concerning Sciarrino's alleged behavior on and off the bench, including his activities on social-networking sites.

Sciarrino, who was appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, served as a Criminal Court judge for two years in Brooklyn before moving to Targee Street in 2007 to preside primarily over misdemeanor cases.

He'll be replaced by Judge Desmond Green, Bookstaver said. Green was once assigned to Stapleton Criminal Court but was shifted to Brooklyn last year. Green sits on the bench in Stapleton on weekends, and substitutes for Sciarrino and Judge Alan J. Meyer in case of illness.

For several months, Sciarrino allowed the public to view his Facebook.com page, which included photographs of his children and, at times, blow-by-blow details of his location and schedule.

He had also updated his Facebook "status" while sitting on the bench and once, sources said, he took a photo of his crowded courtroom and put it on his Facebook page.

The posting was removed almost immediately, one source said.

"It's all childish. I don't think it was meant to harm anybody. The man was on Facebook 24 hours a day. If you were on Facebook, you saw what he was doing all the time," a source said.

Sciarrino's profile is currently set to private.

Sciarrino has also spoken publicly about the condition of the Stapleton Criminal Court building, and tried to make the case in the media for a third judge to alleviate the court's caseload.

"The return of our third judge is absolutely necessary in order for us to get things done and to get the caseloads down again," Sciarrino told the Advance in an article in October 2008.

In so doing, he went around Justice Philip G. Minardo, administrative judge for civil and criminal matters on Staten Island, one source said.

"He tried to get a third judge, that was good, but I don't think he went about it the right way. He circumvented the system," the source said.