To the Editor:
As a former Hopkinton resident (and former editor of HopNews), I’m following with some interest the latest saga gripping the town and the disturbing narrative that has taken root. I’ll attempt to summarize what several loud voices would have you believe:
- That Petros “Peter” Sismanis, the former owner of Hillers Pizza, a disgraced and convicted child abuser, leveraged friendly relationships with the Hopkinton Police Department to avoid detection while he groomed his victim(s).
- That Hopkinton Police Chief Joseph Bennett and other police officers were either complicit or complacent in Sismanis’ crimes by allowing the renewal of Hillers Pizza’s Common Victualler (CV) license.
- The Hopkinton Select Board failed the community by perpetually renewing the CV license.
As many readers will know, during my tenure as editor, I provided broad and frequently unflattering coverage of the HPD and Select Board, specifically regarding their handling of the Sergeant Tim Brennan matter. I spent many hours researching, attending Select Board meetings, interviewing, and writing.
I was also the first to report on Sismanis’ arrest on January 31, 2023. Coincidentally, all three of my children worked at Hillers Pizza at the time, and on the night of his arrest, my youngest daughter was on shift. Fortunately, one of my contacts in the police department called and recommended that I immediately pick up my daughter, which I did. Throughout the year, and up until I handed HopNews to editor Paula Garland, I continued to cover the story.
To be clear, at no point did I discover (or even hear about) any member of the HPD having anything but a professional relationship with Sismanis. The notion that he evaded detection because he was “cozy” with Chief Bennett or other officers is ludicrous. To the extent that Sismanis was known to the HPD, it was likely in his capacity as a purveyor of discounted sub sandwiches. Other officers, who had been with the department longer, may have known about Sismanis’ 2002 conviction for Indecent Assault and Battery, and they may have even known that he was serving a 20-year probation. Still, judges, not police officers, decide sentences.
My informed opinion is that Chief Bennett is a poor manager, but to insinuate (or assert, as some people have) that he is a protector of child rapists is beyond the pale. For those who are thinking well, what about Deputy Jay Porter? Despite Bennett’s obvious bungling of the firing of Sgt. Brennan, there is no evidence that Bennett knew of the allegations against Porter before placing him on administrative leave, which he did at the urging of the Middlesex District Attorney’s office, the day after Porter’s victim’s complaint was filed. While both the Porter and Sismanis incidents are objectively terrible, there is zero evidence that they are connected in any way.
Which brings me to the Select Board, which has the ultimate authority for renewing an applicant’s CV license. If you’ve ever attended a Select Board meeting, you’ll know that CV license renewals are pro forma, often lumped into the consent agenda. In other words, for the sake of expediency, renewals are approved without discussion or debate.
Furthermore, the process for renewing CV licenses is codified in state law. M.G.L. c. 140 § 2 provides that the local licensing authority (e.g., the Select Board) may grant a license to a person to be a common victualler, and that the license shall not be valid until signed by the board. The statute gives the Select Board the right to refuse to issue a license if, in the board’s opinion, the public good does not require it.
Notably, the statute does not in § 2 or § 6 explicitly require the licensing authority to run a criminal background check or investigate the applicant’s criminal record. Nor is there any language in the statute that mandates fingerprinting, CORI (criminal offender record information) review, or that a license issuance be conditioned on the applicant being free of a criminal record.
Some towns in Massachusetts do require criminal background checks for CV licenses (Andover, Reading), but these are local statutes, not state law.
In short, the Select Board had no requirement by law or Town Charter to require a CORI before granting the renewal of Hillers’ CV license.
Yet, these facts are overlooked by Ashland resident Marie Laskowsky and the Hopkinton Coalition for Children (whatever that is) because they are inconvenient to their conspiratorial narrative. I urge Ms. Laskowsky and other Hopkintonians to put the pitchforks away. The Select Board and HPD are bound by law, not the feelings of the mob. For those who would like to add a background check to the CV licensing process, the Charter Review Committee is seeking applicants.
TL;DR? Sismanis is a scumbag, but there’s no conspiracy, and there are plenty of better reasons to relieve Chief Bennett of command.
Peter Thomas
LTE: The views expressed in this letter are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of HopNews. Letters may be edited for clarity, grammar, and length.
Comments: HopNews welcomes comments as long as they contribute to the discussion and are respectful. Anyone can criticize ideas or disagree with opinions, but personal attacks won’t be published.
Thank you, Peter Thomas for reiterating some actual FACTS about this idiot crusade. It is so misguided.
Good writing Peter as you know my charge has and will always be the defense of Tim Brennan and porters victim. The victim will always be that but she has received justice Porter is serving 7years + a day. She also will probably do quite well with litigation. Tim has received no justice. Removal of current command staff at HPD is part of my fight. If in the corse of my activism the children of Hopkinton are safer that’s a bonus that any parent should be happy with.
Great job Peter!
Peter Thomas has entered the chat. Thank goodness for some sanity.
I fully agree with this letter and I am glad someone finally put real facts on the table. It has been frustrating to watch Marie Laskowsky try so desperately to turn this into a scandal that simply does not exist. She is not a Hopkinton resident, yet she continues to inject herself into our town’s affairs as if she speaks for us. It is completely fair to question her motives. At this point it looks far more like a personal need for attention than a genuine interest in the truth.
Hillers Pizza absolutely needed to go. There is no question about that. Everyone in this town can agree that what happened was horrific and that removing the business was the right decision. But the continued over-the-top commentary and conspiracy-style talk from these individuals is enough. It is not helping anyone, and it certainly is not helping Hopkinton heal or move forward.
Her repeated media appearances, including on NBC 10, make it hard to ignore the possibility that the spotlight is what she is really after. This entire situation has become embarrassing for Hopkinton because it is being distorted by people who do not live here and who seem comfortable making reckless claims that harm the community without offering any credible evidence.
The statements coming from both Marie Laskowsky and Beth Malloy have been some of the most irresponsible and accusatory comments made throughout this issue. They are presenting assumptions as facts and pushing a narrative that misrepresents our town, our officials, and the actual legal framework that governs these matters. Their behavior is not advocacy. It is harmful noise that distracts from real issues and unfairly damages reputations.
Hopkinton deserves honest, informed discussion, not outsiders using our town to elevate themselves or promote conspiracy-driven stories. If people truly want change, they should start with facts, not theatrics.
Nicely said. Thank you!
Truly an honest question as I have been reading all of the articles on this and not knowing what to think. If the HPD has to sign off on renewal of a license and they knew about his previous conviction, could they have opted not to sign? Or are we thinking that they did not know? I am not trying to be combative as I really just want to understand.
Oh they knew, and they chose to do nothing. Select Board members knew back 2018 and did nothing. Cops have known about him since 1995. It’s truly sad him many women and girls were victims of Sismanis. Sadder that they allowed it to happen.
BTW the only pitchforkers I knew of where the #tim folks.
Good letter — but maybe the bigger question isn’t about pitchforks at all. Can we really trust the professional leadership of Chief Bennett to keep our community safe when he was so closely associated with two now convicted sex offenders? Why hasn’t there been more oversight by the select board in the last two years?
Facts matter. Thanks for the facts.