Defense attorney Maura Tansley questions former HPD Sgt. Tim Brennan in court Thursday. PHOTO/MARY ELLEN GAMBON

The commonwealth rested its case late Thursday afternoon in the trial of former Hopkinton Police Deputy Chief John “Jay” Porter, who stands accused of raping a female three times when she was a Hopkinton High School sophomore two decades ago.

The defense will proceed with its case Friday morning.

The proceedings began with a cross examination of the accuser, who now is 35. She had described in graphic detail during her previous testimony three instances when she claimed Porter had intimate relations with her.

Defense attorney Maura Tansley questioned the accuser’s credibility in her description of her communication patterns with Porter and the alleged sexual encounters she described the previous day. Tansley pointed out details of the accuser’s testimony that differed from what she had said when she was interviewed by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office in 2022. Charges against Porter were announced by the DA’s Office in May 2023.

Tansley stressed how the accuser said the previous day how she relied on Porter for a sense of validation, which the woman corroborated.

“When you didn’t get validated, you assumed [Porter] was angry?” Tansley asked, and the accuser agreed. Tansley asked if that was why the accuser said she would put notes of apology under his office door.

“Only when he cut me off,” the accuser said. “He would completely dismiss me and not speak to me, which would make me upset.”

Tansley asked her if she remembered typing a letter to Porter around the time when he told her that he would no longer be the school resource officer (SRO) at Hopkinton High School, showing her a copy.

“I don’t remember writing this,” said the accuser. “But it looks like something that I would have written. She said she had a “flight of ideas” about his impending departure. Her plan at that time was to stop communicating with Porter.

“My 15-year-old self thought that it was an appropriate response,” she said.

But the accuser babysat for Porter after he was promoted to a detective position, Tansley said.

It was after this babysitting opportunity, which the accuser described as “an incentive” for good behavior, that the accuser claimed Porter digitally penetrated her and groped her breasts when he gave her a ride home in his truck. The accuser said she “started to perform oral sex on him” during the ride but was interrupted by lights from an approaching car.

Tansley quoted the 2022 document as stating: “He could have put a finger in me, or not.”

“I’m very sure that he put his hands down my pants,” the accuser replied.

Said Tansley: “I asked, ‘Do you remember his fingers touching your vagina or not?’ ”

“I don’t,” the alleged survivor replied.

She accused Porter of driving her to a nearby church parking lot, where she said Porter twice tried to have sexual intercourse with her but was unsuccessful. She also described him as “groping, kissing and licking” her breasts.

Tansley pulled up the accuser’s 2022 statement to the DA’s Office on a laptop. She asked the accuser to “search and find more easily” where the words “kissing,” “licking” and “groping” appeared in the text. The accuser said she did not see them in that document.

In a response to a question in that report about whether Porter allegedly “touched your boobs or any other part of your body,” the accuser’s answer was recorded as a sound like an ‘M’ or an ‘N,’ which Tansley said was unclear. The accuser used this speech pattern Wednesday when responding to questions until Judge Michael Pineault reminded her to use yes or no answers and to speak into the microphone for recording purposes.

Regarding an alleged encounter on the accuser’s 18th birthday at her college dorm, she said she told Porter that if security questioned him, he could pretend he was her father. The 2022 statement did not mention a “just pretend to be my dad” comment, according to Tansley.

“That doesn’t mean that didn’t also happen,” the accuser replied. “I said I would swipe my badge.”

The accuser pointed out that the 2022 interview and the court proceedings involved two different types of styles. When speaking with the DA’s Office, she said she was not asked questions but told to describe her experiences.

“It was open with no feedback,” she explained. “There were no leading questions.”

“It’s a traumatic experience,” she stressed. “So it’s going to be what comes to your mind at the moment. So it’s very difficult to know what someone would ask of you as a direct question.”

Accuser, Brennan describe friendship

Tansley also asked about the accuser’s relationship with former HPD Sgt. Tim Brennan, who succeeded Porter in the SRO role. The witness noted that there were no emails or texts exchanged or notes under the door.

Later in the afternoon, Brennan corroborated that such exchanges did not happen during his time as an SRO. He said he acted as a mentor to the accuser and was not involved in her Individual Education Plan (IEP), as Porter had been.

Brennan described his role with the accuser, first as a mentor and later as a confidant. He explained how he urged her to report what happened but could not force her to do so.

When she confided in him about the alleged assaults, he said he urged her to report them. He noted the accuser said she would would say that he was lying if she were asked about it.

The accuser said she stayed in contact with Brennan after graduating from HHS because of his positive support. They exchanged texts, calls and emails and occasionally met for a meal. In 2017, she confided in Brennan that she allegedly was sexually assaulted by Porter but did not come forward until 2022.

What prompted her to make the decision, she said, was an experience at her job in a Boston hospital. She said she had worked on a 12-year-old who had been sexually assaulted and had to be sedated and intubated. She talked with the mother about what had transpired.

“I felt this tremendous amount of guilt that if [the patient] asked me if it was hopeless, I wouldn’t know what to say,” she said. “I needed to come forward about my truth.”

Other witnesses testify

Several witnesses were called to testify to their knowledge of the accuser’s school history and police interactions, as well as of any knowledge of communication between the accuser and Porter. They included former adjustment counselors at Hopkinton High School and Hopkinton Middle School.

Current Hopkinton Deputy Police Chief Scott van Raalten and Chief Joseph Bennett also testified about their roles in the ensuing investigation of Porter. Testimony regarding about how van Raalten found a folder with the accuser’s name on it in Porter’s office hall closet was offered by both. Van Raalten explained he gave the folder to the chief as the two helped clean Porter’s personal effects out of his office.

Bennett spoke about the HPD’s filing system. He said a person’s file typically would not be found in a closet.

The judge reminded the jury that the accuser’s revelation to Brennan was the first complaint. In sexual assault cases in Massachusetts, the law allows testimony by one person whom the complainant told of the alleged assault. This helps the jury assess the credibility of the witness, according to the state website.

Brennan was questioned by defense counsel as to why he did not report the alleged sexual assaults to his supervisor. He said that his 30 years of training students in the Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) program influenced his decision.

“I thought that a better thing was for me just to support her to do it on her own,” he said.

He added that he did not believe reporting the accusations to the Department of Children and Families (DCF) was warranted in this case because she was an adult at the time “and there was no threat of sexual assault.”

Brennan’s failure to report the allegations led to his termination from the Hopkinton Police Department last February in a controversial decision that divided the town. He since took a position as an officer in Milford.

In his testimony, Bennett, the chief, explained that mandated reporters — including teachers, nurses and police officers — are required by law to complete a written report with 48 hours of calling to report child abuse or neglect to DCF. This led to his decision to call for Brennan’s termination, he said.

Bennett and van Raalten described how they helped clean out Porter’s personal effects from his office after his retirement in April 2023. Van Raalten said he found a manila folder with the accuser’s name on it in the closet, along with articles of clothing and notebooks.

“I took the folder out of the shelf and handed it directly to the chief,” van Raalten said.

Bennett cleaned out a bookcase, sorting department materials from Porter’s personal effects such as “photos, books, certificates and training awards.” He said he gave the contents to Porter’s niece, who also works for the HPD.

Bennett said he turned the folder over to the Massachusetts State Police to give to the DA’s Office.

Said Bennett: “I pretty much came offline when the folder was discovered.”

“If I am the person who’s going to be doing the disciplining, it’s not good practice to be part of the investigation,” he said of his role as chief in addressing alleged conduct of officers.

When questioned as to why a civilian’s folder would be in a closet, Bennett said, “I would try to avoid that.”

He noted that the HPD keeps a “kudos” folder for each officer who receives expressions of praise.

Defense attorney Leonardo Angiulo said it was his understanding that there are “no off-the-record” conversations between Bennett and his officers.

“You created the policy,” Angiulo said. “Everyone in the department knew that a cop could come to you and there would be a result.”

Bennett confirmed to Angiulo that when he spoke with Brennan about the accuser’s claims on Jan. 19, 2023, he created a letter about it the following day to document it.