Buried at the end of the Select Board meeting last night was an announcement by Chair Muriel Kramer that the Board will be meeting on Tuesday, January 16 to discuss the “police matter”.
The matter she referred to is the suspension of Hopkinton Police Sergeant Tim Brennan, who has been sidelined since May following his testimony to a Middlesex Grand Jury in the rape case of former Deputy Chief Jay Porter.
Porter was indicted on April 29, 2023 on three counts of child rape. The alleged incident took place in connection with an assault of a student when Porter was Hopkinton’s School Resource Officer. He was the SRO from 1998 – 2005.
>> RELATED: Read the Complete Timeline with Commentary on the Jay Porter matter
Years later, the alleged victim disclosed the crime to Brennan, but Brennan did not inform his superiors about it, one of whom was Porter. In a report produced in 2023 for the town by Kroll Investigative Services, Brennan admitted to knowingly violating departmental policies by not immediately reporting the alleged crime. Kroll’s Dan Linskey was the lead investigator:
Sgt. Brennan: I said ‘you should report that’. She says, ‘I’m not reporting it to anyone, and if you do, I’m going to tell them that I never said anything of the sort’.
Mr. Linskey: Why didn’t you report it to the Chief and say ‘look, she’s going to say that I’m lying, but I just want you to know, she told me a couple of years ago they had an affair, which, you know, whatever you think of an 18 year old and a police leader having a consensual relationship is one thing. But now she’s telling me that she was sexually assaulted when she was 14. Chief, I want to make you aware of that, because this guy has got our uniform and our badge, and it could reflect negatively on the department?’
Sgt. Brennan: I did not tell him that.
Mr. Linskey: Okay. Any reason why?
Sgt. Brennan: Because she was not willing to go forward with that.
Brennan has been on administrative leave with pay, and is expected to appear with his attorney.
The meeting will be open to the public, and will be held at the Hopkinton Senior Center on Tuesday, January 16 at 5:00 PM.
This community will be lucky if he decides to stay on here in Hopkinton and doesn’t seek employment elsewhere.
Finally a day in public court to show why good cops rarely sacrifice their lives and careers to take down a bad cop
God bless you and keep you Tim Brennan. A good man. Hopkinton does not deserve you.
This man deserves to be FIRED!!!! Anyone saying he should stay I pray you don’t have daughters
Have you read prior comments from parents and townspeople extolling Officer Brennan’s dedication and commitment to the citizens of Hopkinton? Officer Brennan has been protecting the citizens of Hopkinton, including its’ girls and young women for 24 years. I have read comment after comment from parents stating they have or currently do place their children in the trust of Officer Brennan, a supreme vote of confidence from any parent. You failed to detail your reasoning in shouting for Officer Brennan being fired. Please enlighten us and let us know if you have children, daughters, sisters, and if so, would you not expect a police officer to first and foremost protect them, especially from their perpetrator, the ‘trusted’ police officer who allegedly sexually assaulted the victim?
Why is this meeting from 5-6pm? This doesn’t give 8-5 working families a chance to even attend.
Anyone have an answer to this? Also the senior center is not equipped to hold the amount of people expected to show. Heard the fire department will be there turning people away. Sounds suspect.
Tammy, with all the respect I can muster, you have no earthly idea what you’re talking about. This women disclosed the sexual assault to Brennan some 14-15 years after the alleged incident took place.
Btw, I have a young teenage daughter and I would trust Sargent Brennan with her life. You obviously don’t know him. Brennan is a great cop and a great man.
I hope 1000 people show up to support Tim next week. I’ll be there.
I am in complete agreement with Jim. I too have a daughter who I would completely trust Tim to look out for…and he does and has. And I don’t give trust to others freely where my kids are concerned. It’s bc he IS a standup citizen, community member, professional…and friend. If this was brought to his attention when the victim WAS a minor, I have 100% faith in his professionalism to report it…to someone, but who? likely not porter as that was a “no -win” situation….or the chief? Another difficult situation as well for a number of reasons already publicized. and it’s too bad the choice of superiors in which to report it were as it was. What’s the procedure then? It was brought to his attention by the ADULT victim who asked for him to NOT bring it forward. It’s easy to cast stones when YOU are not in that situation and just wash your hands of any reasonable considerations and thoughtful process. And I greatly feel for the victim who I’m sure is feeling a host of emotions in all of this. God bless her.
Tammy I whole heartedly agree with you. IF he knew and said nothing he breached his promise as a mandated reporter. Right there grounds for dismissal.
I don’t think mandatory reporters are required to report long past abuse of a child when the victim, who is now an adult, tells him not to. He would have to report abuse of a child when the victim is currently a child, to protect the child victim from the abuse. This was a very difficult situation since the now adult alleged victim said she’d deny it if he reported it.
This is a tragedy worthy of Shakespeare, but I think the most applicable quote comes from Teddy Roosevelt:
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”