SJC case to determine if trooper gets pension
Lawyer: His crime not connected to job
As the state police attempt to address the rash of controversy that has embroiled the department, the state’s highest court is preparing to hear a case that will outline when disgraced law enforcement personnel should lose their pensions.
The case involves Brian O’Hare, a former sergeant with the state police who pleaded guilty in 2007 in federal court to enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity. Using his home computer, O’Hare “encouraged the development of a sexual relationship” with a person who said he was a 14-year-old boy, according to court documents.
That boy, however, turned out to be an FBI agent.
The state Board of Retirement ruled that O’Hare should be stripped of his pension, but a district court judge, citing a 2014 Supreme Judicial Court decision that came down as the case was ongoing, overturned the decision because the “crime did not involve any violation of law applicable to his job,” according to court documents.
Superior Court Judge Peter Lauriat upheld the decision, but the Appeals Court overturned the two lower-court judges last year.
“O’Hare’s egregious actions are in violation of the fundamental tenets of his role as a state police officer, where the protection of the vulnerable, including children, is at the heart of a police officer’s role, and this repudiation of his official duties violated the public’s trust and the integrity of the State police,” Associate Justice Vickie L. Henry wrote for a unanimous court.
Late last month, the SJC agreed to hear the case — a decision that could force it to draw a line in the sand and determine what crimes force law enforcement to forfeit their pensions.
Gov. Charlie Baker recently said state troopers accused of lying about working overtime shifts should be stripped of their pensions if the charges are true. He said yesterday that O’Hare should have to give his up as well.
“Governor Baker believes that any person that violates the trust of the public and is convicted of a serious offense such as this should not receive their pension and should be heavily scrutinized by the State Retirement Board,” spokesman Brendan Moss said in an email.
David Procopio, spokesman for the state police, said in an email that the department supports the “Retirement Board’s action to forfeit the pension and the subsequent legal efforts to preserve that action.”
Eric Tennen, O’Hare’s attorney, did not respond to multiple emails and calls made yesterday. In his pitch to the Appeals Court, Tennen argued the law is clearly in his client’s favor.
“His crime was not in any way connected to his employment. His crime did not reference public employment,” Tennen wrote. “And, it did not violate a fundamental precept embodied in a law applicable to it.”