HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice was charged Tuesday with ethics violations that could lead to his removal after the state attorney general exposed lewd and offensive e-mails he swapped with friends and a state prosecutor through a private e-mail account.

The state Judicial Conduct Board filed a 52-page complaint with the Court of Judicial Discipline that accused Justice Michael Eakin of violating both judicial and constitutional codes of conduct.

The board said his actions gave the appearance of impropriety, that he didn’t respect the court’s nondiscrimination policy, that he detracted from the dignity of his office and that he sent e-mails that a person of reasonable sensitivity would find objectionable.

The board claims Eakin engaged in extreme conduct that brought his judicial office into disrepute through e-mail content that included photos of nude women, sexually suggestive themes, gender and socioeconomics stereotypes, anti-gay content and violence toward women.

Eakin released a statement saying that having the Court of Judicial Discipline take up the matter “brings the opportunity for transparency of process, based on the actual facts and not speculation and mischaracterization. As such, I welcome it. I have cooperated with candor and openness, and will continue to do so.”

Eakin’s role in the scandal became public a year ago, with reports that he received two e-mails in a private e-mail account with pictures of topless or nude women, plus one allegedly racist e-mail in 2010.

The board investigated him and another justice caught up in the scandal, Seamus McCaffery, who subsequently resigned mid-term. Eakin was cleared, but Attorney General Kathleen Kane two months ago disclosed more than 1,000 of his e-mails to the board, triggering the investigation that resulted in the charges filed Tuesday.