WASHINGTON -- Two women told a House panel in graphic detail how a Texas federal judge sexually abused them for years, KPRC Local 2 reported Wednesday.

Members of the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing Wednesday on the possible impeachment of U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent of Galveston.

Donna Wilkerson, 45, was Kent's secretary for seven years.

She said the incidents with Kent were more than sexual harassment and sexual misconduct.

"His acts were sexual assaults. I have detailed these incidents and the more minor incidents in my written statement. I was a seven-year victim of Sam Kent -- of sexual and psychological abuse," Wilkerson testified.

She said the abuse began on the fifth day of her job when he pinned her against a door.

"He leaned in and placed a kiss on my mouth. I didn't know what to do, so I exited," she said. "After that, the abuse became more frequent and severe."

She told committee members about how Kent groped and assaulted her.

"Starting with the most minor incidents like hugs and kisses, then escalating to worse instances to touching inappropriately, groping me outside my clothes, then inside my clothes and top to bottom. Then attempting to and gaining penetration to my genitals with his hand," Wilkerson said.

Wilkerson said the abuse continued one to two times a month and lasted for six years.

"Sam Kent is a 6 foot 4 inch man weighing 300 pounds. Once cornered, caught or pinned, there's no getting away," Wilkerson said.

Cathy McBroom was a case manager. She said she was approached by Kent numerous times, especially after he returned from long lunches intoxicated.

"He started calling me on the phone, I would say more than 10 episodes of him calling my office, begging for me to come up and give him a kiss," she said."I guess he felt like he was powerful enough that no one was going to approach him, and no one was going to come and come to my rescue. And he was right."

She said his attacks became more violent.

"He pulled up my blouse. He got his hand underneath my bra and pulled everything up at once, so that my breasts were exposed. I was begging him to stop, telling him, 'Please don't do this to me, please don't,'" McBroom said. "In my opinion, what happened to me went way beyond sexual harassment."

Impeachment attorney Alan Baron said Kent was convicted of lying to a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judicial panel. But Baron said Kent also lied to the FBI in December 2007 and to Justice Department officials in August 2008.

Kent has said he'll resign in a year, but some House members want him out sooner to cut off his salary.

Kent told the president Tuesday he would resign from the bench in June 2010, nearly a year after he begins serving prison time for lying about the sexual abuse of two assistants.

Kent would draw a full salary of $174,000 a year and benefits until the resignation takes effect, said his lawyer, Dick DeGuerin. Kent decided on the delay so his wife could retain her medical benefits, DeGuerin said.

"His wife will be destitute unless he receives his benefits for that year," DeGuerin said. "She will be without any kind of medical insurance. His wife had a brain tumor recently and other serious medical problems."

The resignation was submitted a week after denial of Kent's request to retire on disability due to depression -- which would have meant full salary for the rest of his life. By resigning, he gets nothing after next year.

DeGuerin said Kent, 59, is resigning to try to avoid the "spectacle" of an impeachment process by Congress.

"Judge Kent's own actions continue to prove that he is unworthy of public service," said U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, the ranking Republican on the committee. "This is an outrageous abuse of authority and defies the very principles of justice Judge Kent swore to uphold. Ensuring that a corrupt judge does not receive another penny of taxpayer dollars is one of the most important jobs for this Congress and a priority for the Judiciary Committee."

According to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, there is no procedure to reject a federal judge's resignation notice. The only way a federal judge can be removed is through impeachment.

Last month, Kent was sentenced to 33 months in prison, fined $1,000 and ordered to pay $6,550 in restitution to his former secretary and his case manager, whose complaints resulted in the first sex abuse case against a sitting federal judge.

Kent is set to report to prison June 15. A decision by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons on where he will serve his sentence has not been announced. He also was ordered to participate in an alcohol-abuse program while in prison.

At Kent's sentencing, the two women said they came to work scared of the judge because he put them through repeated and humiliating sexual abuse at the federal courthouse in Galveston, where Kent had been the lone jurist before being transferred to Houston.

Kent was invited to speak but DeGuerin's office said the judge would not attend. In a letter to the committee, Kent indicated he was too ill to travel, said Kim Smith, a spokeswoman for Lamar Smith.

DeGuerin said there is no reason to continue with impeachment of Kent.

"He's been completely defeated," DeGuerin said. "He's resigned from the Texas bar. He's disabled, mentally and physically. He's going to go to prison. What more could they want? It's just sensationalism to have this hearing, with these two women to go up there. He was not convicted of any sexual conduct with them. There is no need for it."

As part of the plea deal, Kent admitted he tried to force his former case manager into unwanted sex acts in August 2003 and March 2007, and did the same with his secretary from 2004 through at least 2005.

DeGuerin said it would also probably take a year for the impeachment process to be completed in Congress.

"With him resigning, it's not necessary," he said.