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Report: 3 Stoughton cops had inappropriate relationships with young woman who later killed herself
CW: Sexual assault, CSA
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/09/22/metro/three-stoughton-police-officers-had-inappropriate-relationships-with-young-woman-who-came-them-mentoring-town-report-finds/
Free link: https://archive.ph/tpDlX
Three Stoughton police officers had inappropriate relationships with a young woman who killed herself last year while she was expecting her first child, according to a police internal affairs report released Friday, sometimes texting the woman while on duty to arrange meetings.
At the time of her death, Sandra Birchmore, 23, had been telling friends she was pregnant with the child of one of the officers, Matthew G. Farwell, 36, a detective, former patrolmen’s union president, and married father. They met when Birchmore was just 13 through the department’s youth explorers program, which introduces young people to law enforcement careers.
The redacted 60-page report offered the most detailed account to date of Birchmore’s relationships with Farwell, his twin brother, William, and their former supervisor in the department’s police explorers program, which ended in 2016.
All three officers have already left the police department. But, Police Chief Donna McNamara said she plans to ask the state’s new Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission to decertify Matthew and William Farwell as well as Officer Robert C. Devine as police officers. Under state law, law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts are prohibited from hiring decertified officers.
At the time of her death, Sandra Birchmore, 23, had been telling friends she was pregnant with the child of one of the officers, Matthew G. Farwell, 36, a detective, former patrolmen’s union president, and married father. They met when Birchmore was just 13 through the department’s youth explorers program, which introduces young people to law enforcement careers.
The redacted 60-page report offered the most detailed account to date of Birchmore’s relationships with Farwell, his twin brother, William, and their former supervisor in the department’s police explorers program, which ended in 2016.
All three officers have already left the police department. But, Police Chief Donna McNamara said she plans to ask the state’s new Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission to decertify Matthew and William Farwell as well as Officer Robert C. Devine as police officers. Under state law, law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts are prohibited from hiring decertified officers.
Also:
The internal affairs report said Matthew Farwell was the last known person to see Birchmore alive.
In his State Police interview, Matthew Farwell acknowledged visiting Birchmore’s apartment shortly before her death, saying he went there to end their relationship and deleted all his communications with her after he left. He told troopers he met Birchmore when she was a participant in the explorers program and he was an instructor, and knew about the challenges she faced at home.
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