The head of SIRT Ron MacDonald says he’s seen a number of officers investigated during his term, but this is the first time he’s seen a police chief charged with sexually assaulting a teenaged girl.
SIRT laid one charge of sexual assault and two charges of sexual exploitation against Bridgewater police Chief John Collyer. The girl was 17 years old at the time of the alleged offences last year. Collyer was placed on administrative leave last August after it became public that SIRT was investigating an alleged sexual assault, but the charges weren’t laid until now because SIRT didn’t get some critical documentary evidence until last week.