A former top police official in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, was found guilty Friday of child rape charges.
The Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office said a jury convicted former Hopkinton Police Deputy Chief John “Jay” Porter of three counts of child rape that occurred in 2004 and 2005 when he was a school resource officer.
The victim, who was 15 at the time, was a student at Hopkinton High School. Prosecutors said Porter assaulted her off campus multiple times.
“The defendant in this case abused his position of power to take advantage of and manipulate a child to gain her trust before sexually assaulting her on multiple occasions,” District Attorney Marian Ryan said in a statement.
Resources for victims of sexual assault are available through the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673, and Massachusetts provides this list of statewide and resources for sexual assault survivors.
Authorities said Porter advised the girl during her freshman and sophomore years while working at the high school. Their “relationship changed during her tenth grade, going from one of a trusted adult and student to a flirtatious then sexual one,” prosecutors wrote in a filing in Middlesex Superior Court.
In one incident, when the girl was excused from school early, Porter volunteered to drive her home, then began kissing her, before engaging in sexual acts. Prosecutors said he would make statements like, “this is wrong,” but escalated involvement.
Later that year, after driving her home after she babysat for him at his home in Hopedale, prosecutors said they engaged in another sex act, even after saying, “I know what we want but it can’t happen,” according to the court filing.
It took 13 years before the woman was ready to say what happened to her in high school, prosecutors said.
Porter, who was with the Hopkinton Police Department since 1992, was placed on leave in 2022, just weeks after marking 30 years on the force. He was indicted in May of 2023, pleading not guilty days later.
The Hopkinton Select Board voted last February to terminate Hopkinton Police Sgt. Timothy Brennan, who was accused of failing to report the child rape allegations against Porter. An outside investigator hired by the town found that Brennan may have had prior knowledge of the accusations and not acted.
In July, Brennan was hired by the Milford Police Department. His certification was suspended in August by the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission. Weeks later, the POST Commission reinstated his certification on appeal.
Brennan argued that the victim told him what happened to her when she was 14 and 15 as a mentor, not as a police officer, and feared for her safety should he go public. He also continued to urge her to report the allegations, according to the order, and referred her to Middlesex County prosecutors, which led to Porter’s arrest.
A sentencing hearing for Porter is set for Wednesday, June 18.
