TRENTON -- New Jersey's highest court has reprimanded a Superior Court judge for making crude and sexually suggestive comments to attorneys and witnesses in his courtroom.

Judge Joseph A. Portelli, formerly a family court judge now presiding over criminal matters in Passaic County, was accused of complimenting the appearance of a witness and making a vulgar remark to a deputy attorney general, among other charges.

The state Supreme Court on Wednesday followed the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct, which found such conduct "detracts from the dignity of the judicial proceedings."

His attorney, Ralph Lamparello, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

According to court documents, the complaints stemmed from the time Portelli spent as a chancery judge handling family court matters, including child guardianship cases.

The committee found that the judge would often allow the children in such matters to sit on his lap, and in one instance joked to a female deputy attorney general, "you cannot sit on my lap."

The council also found the judge complimented a regular witness before the court on her appearance during proceedings on two separate occasions. In another instance, the judge told a female deputy attorney general he liked how she "shoves it up" an adversary's "ass," referring to her aggressive legal style.

A complaint filed against Portelli also claimed he had been heard saying he "hated" guardianship cases because they were "so boring and long," but the council dismissed a charge that his comments undermined his impartiality in such cases.

The public reprimand is among the milder punishments for judges accused of wrongdoing. The council wrote that none of the involved parties believed Portelli's comments were overtly sexual in nature and that the family division proceedings were often informal because the parties involved saw each other regularly.

They also wrote that Portelli had expressed remorse and would "not repeat such behavior in the future."

S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.