>> RELATED: LTE: A Vote Against Shahidul Mannan
From the Editor: Recently, Tim Babbin submitted an in-depth comment responding to a May 8th Letter to the Editor (LTE). Mr Babbin’s comment included references to specific links with bold and italicized text for emphasis. However, the HopNews website does not support these formatting features within article comments; only full articles can display bold, italics, and hyperlinked titles. To preserve the original intent and formatting of the comment, HopNews contacted Mr. Babbin to request permission to publish his comment as a standalone LTE, allowing for a more authentic and accurate presentation. HopNews appreciates Mr. Babbin’s cooperation in making this possible. Please note that the (untitled) links have been added to Mr. Babbin’s original comment.
To: Beth and AS –
Your claims are factually incorrect. No. Your claims are FLAT-OUT WRONG.
Tim Brennan did not sit on a victim’s report of an alleged rape of a child. Not at all. Not for a second. Like the thousands of others who signed Jim Scanlon’s petition, I am unapologetically a friend of Tim Brennan.
But being Tim Brennan’s friend in no way changes the facts. That’s right. Being Tim Brennan’s friend in no way changes the facts.
Despite your repeated attempts to sully the name and reputation of a good man and a fine police officer in your agenda-driven narrative, you continue to be armed only with inaccurate rumors and innuendos.
You know little about the facts and even less about the law.
I admit. I’m not on Facebook. But I use it enough for work to know that if your reckless comment had been posted on Facebook during the pre-Trump era, Zuckerberg’s fact-checkers would have TAKEN IT DOWN.
Jay PORTER alone stands accused of a CRIME – a violation not only of the law but a violation of the trust of a teenaged victim whom he was charged to protect decades ago. Yet, despite multiple indictments, Porter was allowed (by his bosses — the Chief, the Select Board, and the Town Manager) to RETIRE with a full pension, as if nothing had happened.
A grand jury of citizens like you from across Middlesex County investigated what happened and when. They were aided by a multidisciplinary team of experienced lawyers, detectives, forensic specialists, and victim-witness advocates.
Secretly, and unbeknownst to the rest of us, the grand jurors dove into the evidence and the law. All of it. They had access to real evidence, not gossip from the local salon.
Out of that grand jury came three felony indictments against JAY PORTER for RAPE of a CHILD under 16—nothing else.
If you had been paying attention, you would have noticed that the grand jury did not charge Porter with sexual assault. That’s because there was no sexual assault to charge; the victim was over the age of 14.
You also would have noticed that the grand jury was silent on Brennan. Why? Because Brennan was the hero in that story, not the perpetrator!
But the nefarious way you and others have woven your web of lies has left some townspeople with the impression that Brennan was complicit.
To quote Mary Ellen Gambon in one of her arguably slanderous articles — one bearing a shockingly defamatory title that included the carefully chosen words of “Brennan, implicated in Porter case” — you and Gambon and others have had no problem misleading the town into thinking that “Brennan, who has been linked to a criminal court case involving [Porter]…” was “linked” (as Gambon said) in a criminal way.
>> RELATED: Mary Ellen Gambon’s 1/15/2024 article mentioned above.
Gambon conspicuously failed to responsibly and clearly state that Brennan’s only connection to the “Porter case” was as a victim-centric cop, dutifully exposing the crimes of Porter, his boss. Someone should buy a dictionary for Gambon. Language like that might boomerang as claims of defamation and slander.
Tim Brennan NEVER has been criminally investigated or accused of any crime or legitimate failure to perform his lawful duty.
This fact has been corroborated by both the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office and the POST Commission. In fact, the Order from the POST Commission references Bennett’s admission, in writing, that said:
“Many victims are hesitant to participate in prosecution. Victims of sexual assault and domestic violence are those who are most commonly among hesitant victims. When a victim is reluctant[,] police officers work to serve these victims and stand ready should they decide to come forward with prosecution.”
And that’s why the Order concluded: that’s “exactly what Brennan did.”
>> RELATED: SUMMARY of the POST Single Commissioner’s Order reinstating Brennan’s POST Certification
Tim Brennan’s actions were textbook on-point when dealing with victims. You would have heard that if expert attorney Liz Keeley had been allowed to speak during the Loudermill hearing. Speaking through its counsel, Nick Anastasopoulos, the Town and the Select Board denied Brennan’s request that Elizabeth Keeley present on his behalf during the Loudermill hearing.
Why was subject matter expert and attorney Liz Keeley denied the chance to present on Brennan’s behalf?
Good question. She was the sole subject matter expert in the room. Keeley was the Chief of the Human Trafficking Division at the Office of the Attorney General (AGO) for Massachusetts from 2016 through 2022. In that role, she investigated and prosecuted numerous complex, multi-county, multiple-victim sex trafficking cases to successful resolution, brought forward groundbreaking labor trafficking, conspiracy, and criminal wage and hour cases, and managed multidisciplinary investigative teams of lawyers, advocates, and federal, state, and local law enforcement.
Tim Brennan was terminated for his actions (yet, Brennan’s actions were the only appropriate police actions taken in this victim-centric scenario). By contrast, the alleged rapist Porter—even after Porter’s indictment—was allowed to retire.
Terminated by an inept Chief, an inept Select Board, an inept Town Manager, a laughingly inept town attorney, and an inept PR firm. All of whom could have been charged criminally for their actions had NWDA used its discretion to prosecute rather than sit this one out.
Yet the “clown show” (past and present) representing our town chose to put its collective head in the sand and move for termination based on multiple policies that were NOT EVEN IN EFFECT at the time of the alleged violations.
Brennan, a highly regarded town employee with 20+ years of experience and with overarching town support (as seen at the Loudermill hearings and during the overwhelming vote at Town Meeting instructing the Select Board to take a new vote on Bennett’s request to fire him) was terminated for a first-offense policy violation that was not a crime. Unprecedented. Unheard of. An arbitrator will reverse it, and it will cost the town a lot of money.
This group of alleged “leaders” in our town is doubling down on the arrogance and the ignorance. They hired and promoted the bad guy, and they will go to any lengths (including the shameful career assassination of Tim Brennan) to deny their collective responsibility for that.
There was a time when I believed that our town was led by honest, experienced, and moral people. That time, I’m afraid, is in the past. People…don’t be fooled by charlatans’ shenanigans.
Oh, and Beth and AS: I know you guys will respond to this comment. You can’t help yourselves. You’ll stop at nothing to justify your ignorance, mistake, and smear campaign. Go right ahead.
The case against Porter will play out.
The arbitration against the town/Chief Bennett will play out.
Let Truth be the judge.
Tim Babbin
Hopkinton
Editor’s Note: 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.
I’m sitting here reading this and can’t help but think of one of my favorite films, “Serpico.”
“Frank, we wash our own laundry around here!” – Serpico’s boss (like Bennett and his pal Porter)
“Why didn’t you come to us?” – Serpico’s boss, referring to the collective whole of his corrupt leadership team (like Bennett and his fellow Town leadership, as a whole)
“I don’t see how the division could investigate itself.” – Frank Serpico (Brennan and anyone else with a moral compass and a brain)
Serpico got shot. (Brennan got canned.)
Serpico wrote a book. It became a movie. Pacino was terrific. (So what’s next for Brennan? And who will play him in the movie?)
Can’t wait to read Brennan’s book. Has anyone called Netflix? Or Turtleboy? That guy will need a new sh**show to follow pretty soon, and we have the perfect bike path for Turtleboy’s followers to use for their protests. So spacious and accommodating!
Wow! The people of Hopkinton are lucky to have residents such as Babin who are willing to stand up and shed light on this case and approach it with reason, truth, and fact.
Well done Mr. Babin!
Brennan may have not made the right choice to remain silent, even at the behest of the Victim, and even in light of her protestations that she would claim he was lying and that both he and she feared for her safety. I make no determination or findings in that regard.
I hope every Hopkinton resident realizes that there is no one who is more reputable, has more integrity, and also has more insight and experience to speak out about this than Mr. Tim Babbin.
Thank you, Tim Babbin, for speaking out and reminding every one of us of the FACTS as those seem to have gotten lost along the way.
We can all have our own opinions; however, when it comes to talking about this specific case, so many people share their opinions about things that NEVER even happened.
For example, someone going by “Beth” started her narrative by saying that Brennan “knew the school resource officer was having sex w a senior in high school and said nothing.” Everyone needs to realize that nothing after holds any merit as her first statement has absolutely no factual evidence to stand behind it (because that never happened and was never part of any issue).
In fact, “Beth’s” statement is irresponsible and defamatory, and actually just further shows that our town leaders have not spoken out enough (or at all) to set the record straight.
Again, thank you, Mr. Babbin, as I really do know there is never going to be anything you state that doesn’t have every possible receipt to stand behind it.
Excellent job Mr. Babbin. The fact that Liz Keeley wasn’t allowed to testify says all one needs to know about the railroading of Tim Brennan. It hopefully will all come to light one day. Money can never take the place of one’s reputation being damaged and as much as I would hate to see the people of my old home town hurt I hope Brennan wins his arbitration and then he and his attorney sue for as much as possible. It is also hoped that those that partook in this miscarriage of justice are one day held accountable.
Sadly, those who took part in the miscarriage can only be held accountable at voting time and too often peoples’ memories are too short to see it through.
Agreed Sean.
I am also, unapologetically a friend of Tim Brennan. I am bewildered at how this all played out. I have every hope that accountability will happen. Well said Timmy Babin.