FILE - This Dec. 13, 2011, file photo, Judge Thomas Low speaks during a sentencing hearing at the 4th District Court in American Fork, Utah. A Utah judicial oversight commission representative says the number of comments about Low calling a convicted rapist a "good man" during his sentencing hearing has nearly tripled since Friday, April 14, 2017. Jennifer Yim said Monday, April 17, 2017, that she has received in total about 120 emails, phone calls and Facebook messages about Judge Thomas Low. The messages started coming in late March when Low came under scrutiny for letting Keith Robert Vallejo out of custody after a jury found him guilty of 10 counts of forcible sexual abuse and one count of object rape.(Chris Detrick/The Salt Lake Tribune, via AP, Pool, File) (The Associated Press)
SALT LAKE CITY – A gay rights group has filed an official complaint saying a Utah judge who called a convicted rapist a "good man" during sentencing treated him favorably because he was a Mormon bishop.
Mark Lawrence of Restore our Humanity says the group sent the complaint Thursday to the state Judicial Conduct Commission, which can recommend the Utah Supreme Court reprimand or remove Judge Thomas Low.
Another judicial oversight commission received dozens of complaints, but it doesn't have the same power.
Low said last week "great men sometimes do bad things" as he sentenced former Mormon bishop Keith Robert Vallejo to five years to life in prison for forcible sexual abuse and object rape.
The complaint says Low's remarks illustrate a bias toward members of the faith.
The judge attended Brigham Young University, where almost all students are Mormon, but it isn't clear if he's a church member.
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