Former Hopkinton Police Department Sgt. Tim Brennan will be allowed to return to work as a Milford patrol officer, according to a decision in his favor announced Friday night by the state’s police disciplinary commission.

A copy of the decision was released to the Independent at approximately 6:30 p.m. Friday by Alia Spring, a POST Commission spokesperson, via email.

The Peace Officer Standards & Training (POST) Commission suspended Brennan on Aug. 15 from his position in Milford, which he had held for about a month, according to Spring. Brennan’s disciplinary hearing was held on Aug. 30 before a single commissioner, attorney Marsha V. Kazarosian.

The hearing was closed to the public and the media because it discussed sensitive information regarding Brennan’s lack of reporting alleged sexual assaults against a minor by Brennan’s colleague and superior officer, former Deputy Chief John “Jay” Porter, at the time he learned of them. The alleged assaults occurred nearly 20 years ago, when the alleged survivor was a Hopkinton High School sophomore.

Porter, who was not named in the decision but was referred to as “the Defendant,” pleaded not guilty to three counts of child rape in May 2023 at Middlesex Superior Court. His trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 9.

Kazarosian stated in the decision, “I find by a preponderance of the evidence that Brennan has met his burden of proof in demonstrating that his suspension is not warranted.”

For the suspension to have remained intact, the POST Commission would have to demonstrate that “suspension of the officer is in the best interests of the health, safety, or welfare of the public.” Kazarosian stated that the suspension did not meet that criteria because it “relies upon decisions made by Brennan in 2017 and 2022.”

Brennan navigated tough situation

While Kazarosian said she understood Brennan’s reasoning for wanting to maintain the alleged survivor’s confidentiality, she did not make a determination as to whether his decisions were right or wrong. But she inferred more than once that his judgment in that regard was flawed.

“Brennan may have not made the right choice to remain silent, even at the behest of the Victim,” she wrote, “and even in light of her protestations that she would claim he was lying and that both he and she feared for her safety.”

Added Kazarosian: “However, those decisions, made years ago, do not implicate the health, safety, or welfare of the public at the present time such that a suspension of his certification during the pendency of other proceedings is justified or merited.”

The decision noted that Brennan testified on his own behalf, as did his current boss, Milford Police Chief Robert Tusino. Tusino said in an previous interview with the Independent that he was frustrated by Brennan’s suspension.

“Chief Tusino’s personal observation and assessment of and his confidence in Brennan’s ethical and moral execution of his duties as a police officer was unambiguous,” the decision stated. “He reiterated that he made the right decision in hiring Brennan despite his full knowledge of the allegations against him and his termination in Hopkinton as a result thereof.”

The decision recognized that Brennan was in a tough position regarding reporting the information regarding the alleged sexual assaults by Porter. Porter was his predecessor as a school resource officer, and the two served together in the department for two decades. Porter also was his superior officer, second only to Chief Joseph Bennett.

The alleged survivor first disclosed information about having a sexual relationship with Porter in 2015. At the time she told Brennan, she was 25. In 2017, “in similar circumstances that he understood to be confidential, that in fact she had been under-age at the time of her first sexual encounter with the Defendant.”

The decision made the distinction that Brennan understood the alleged survivor was confiding in him “in his capacity as her long-time mentor and confident (sic)” rather than as an officer. Brennan continued to keep in touch with her, encouraging her to go to college and eventually to report the alleged rapes to the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office sexual assault unit rather than to HPD for apparent fear of retaliation by Porter.

“The Victim also expressed her fear for her own safety should the information be reported – a fear also credibly shared by Brennan because of his personal knowledge of the Defendant’s temperament,” according to the document.

In the document, Brennan stated that he urged the alleged survivor to come forward. She refused to reveal the alleged assaults until 2022. She told him that if he brought information forward, she would deny the allegations.

Porter was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation in August 2022.  After the report to the DA’s Office by the alleged survivor, Porter was charged with three counts of child rape in May 2023. Three days before he was charged, Porter resigned from the HPD.

The decision noted that “Hopkinton Police Department policies at that time provided little guidance as to how to handle a report of this nature.” Kazarosian wrote that Brennan’s and the alleged survivor’s fears that Porter would learn of the report were reasonable. Brennan’s training as a Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) counselor informed his decision to take “a victim-centered, trauma-informed approach.”

“It is also important to note that in 36 years of service, Brennan has no record of discipline, and has enjoyed, by all accounts, an exemplary career in law enforcement both before the incidents asserted in this matter occurred, and in their aftermath,” Kazarosian stated. “He has demonstrated no pattern of behavior or propensity to harm or threaten the health, safety, or welfare of the public, and to be sure, his testimony as to his reasoning for remaining silent – to protect a victim from retaliation and harm – indicates that the safety of the public is not unimportant to him.”

Attorney Daniel Fogarty represented Brennan. Attorney Sean Martinez served as enforcement counsel on behalf of the POST Commission’s Division of Police Standards. Neither attorney disputed the facts of the case, according to the decision document. Thirteen exhibits were considered by Kazarosian, including two presented by Brennan.

One of the exhibits Brennan offered was the May Town Meeting nonbinding article directing the Select Board to reappoint Brennan to the HPD with the same or similar duties passed 219-99.

Also noted in the decision is that Brennan’s arbitration hearing regarding his HPD termination will take place in January 2025.