Who is Cynthia Lopez? Bronx family court judge caught messaging mother in case on swinger's app 

Cynthia Lopez, a Bronx County Family Court judge has been caught messaging a mother involved in a case she is handling, on a swingers’ app. Lopez recused herself from the case following the allegations on Monday.

The mother, Sidney Southerland, who is tied to the court for the time being concerning a child custody dispute, made her accusation against Cynthia public through a TikTok post.

The video was also reposted on X and garnered some attention which led to an investigation by the state and state judicial authorities. The state Office of Court Administration told the New York Post:

“The Court has been made aware of this claim, and is reviewing it.”

As per the Latino Judges Association, Cynthia Lopez was appointed as a judge in the NYC Civil Court in 2021. On June 14 of that year, she was assigned to the Bronx County Family Court. Cynthia was reappointed in 2022 and has been in charge of child protection cases. Her bio on their website wrote:

“Judge Lopez began her legal career with New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) Division of Family Court Legal Services (FCLS) as a staff attorney in the Queens FCLS office in 2001 after receiving both her undergraduate and law degrees from St. John’s University.”

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Cynthia Lopez's message to Sidney Southerland on the swingers' app

Last week, Sidney Southerland claimed in her TikTok video that Judge Cynthia Lopez messaged her on 3Fun, an app for couples looking to have fun with other couples. Sidney, who has an account on the app under the name Chyna used her real photo on the platform. She added the screenshot of Cynthia’s text in the video where the judge wrote:

“Gm Chyna, Am Cynthia. How are you?”

Sidney received the text from the sender on January 24 at 8 am, as per the screenshot. She then went on to add more screenshots of Cynthia’s purported profile on the app, where a short-haired woman was seen sitting on a couch, wearing a black negligee.

Another screenshot showed the sender posing in a short black dress and black heels. On the profile’s bio, the woman claimed to be bis*xual and her male partner was named “Ant”. Cynthia allegedly blocked Sidney on the app after the latter responded:

“B*tch, you know who the f*ck I am”

Sidney told the New York Post that she planned to file a complaint against Cynthia Lopez because she speculated that the judge was delaying her custody case due to her intention of bedding her. She claimed there was some attraction on Cynthia’s part which disturbed her. Sidney Southerland said:

“I was fighting for my kids for two years and you’re giving me a hard time because of some s*xual attraction.”

As per a lawsuit Sidney Southerland filed against the Bronx in September 2022, her legal troubles began in July 2021, when NYPD officers raided her mother’s apartment and arrested her. However, the NYPD said there were no arrests reported on their files.

Sidney’s two children, Saint and Saniya were taken by the Administration for Children’s Services in February 2022. She appeared in court in front of Judge Cynthia Lopez in the same month.

As for Sidney Southerland’s ongoing custody case, Cynthia Lopez will be replaced by Judge Fiordaliza A. Rodriguez.