The Northwestern District Attorney’s Office on Thursday announced that no charges would be brought for the improper release of identifying information about an alleged sexual assault victim from Hopkinton.
The individual accused former Hopkinton Deputy Police Chief John “Jay” Porter of raping her while she was a Hopkinton High School student. He had served as the school resource officer. The case is due to go to trial in December.
In an effort to be transparent, the town released an interview conducted by the Kroll firm with then-Sgt. Tim Brennan on the HPD website. However, the version that was shared publicly on Jan. 19 did not redact information that included identifying details about the accuser, sparking outrage in town and leading to the document being taken down.
“The public release of the Brennan transcript without all necessary redactions of the victim’s name was both avoidable and regrettable,” Northwestern First Assistant District Attorney Steven E. Gagne wrote in the conclusion of his eight-page report. “Ideally the Town of Hopkinton and its counsel will implement precautionary measures to ensure this sort of mistake does not repeat itself. However … I find that criminal prosecution of those involved in the transcript’s release is not warranted.”
The review was handled by the Northwestern DA’s Office rather than the Middlesex County DA’s Office in order to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest.
Obviously it wasn’t done intentionally. It’s truly sad that it happened at all. I’m glad this chapter is done.
Glad you think it’s done. It is not done for the victim though. Really great you are satisfied
To me, it’s not obvious that the release of victim information was not intentional or malicious.
If not intentional, then the information was released due to incompetence, ignorance or malpractice. It is shameful and appalling that there is no investigation and, if warranted, prosecution for violating the rape shield law. I’m certain that the town had Town Counsel review and approve the press release.
There are only two reasons that the victim’s name was not redacted; it was either intentional or due to Town Counsel’s malpractice. Why was the name in the draft press information anyway?
This chapter is far from done if you’re the alleged victim or anyone that truly cares about her or others that have been in her shoes. Gross negligence among our towns Leadership is a serious offense and needs to be addressed by the town. Just because the DA isn’t pressing charges does not mean we simply close the book.
I agree that it doesn’t close the book. It is unconscionable and shameful that the DA is not investigating who was responsible for the final press release. If I or a family member was the subject of the release, then I would add the DA to the list of defendants. Those would be first and foremost, Town Counsel, and Hopkinton’s public records officer, the police chief, Kroll and possibly others.