Local News
The DA’s office says it filed for a clerk-magistrate hearing, which comes weeks after a high school student accused the mayor of inappropriately touching her during a parade.
Brockton Mayor Moises Rodrigues (right) arrives in Hingham Court with his attorney, Mark Lawton (left), for a June 22 hearing on extending a harassment prevention order against the mayor.
Mark Jarret Chavous/Pool
Brockton Mayor Moises Rodrigues could face a criminal charge of assault and battery, the Plymouth County District Attorney’s office told Boston.com.
“On Thursday, July 2, Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office filed an application in Brockton District Court for a clerk’s hearing to be held on a criminal complaint of one charge of Assault and Battery against Moises Rodrigues,” Beth Stone, a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office, said in a statement.
In a clerk’s hearing, also called a clerk magistrate hearing or show cause hearing, a court official called a clerk magistrate holds a private meeting to determine if there is enough evidence to charge a potential defendant with a crime. The hearings usually includes testimony from law enforcement or an individual seeking a criminal complaint, a potential defendant, and sometimes witnesses.
The clerk’s hearing regarding the potential assault charge against Rodrigues has not been scheduled yet, Stone said.
The filing comes weeks after Massachusetts State Police, assigned to the district attorney’s office, began investigating a 17-year-old Brockton High School student’s formal complaint against Rodrigues.
Stone did not confirm whether the application stems from allegations made by the student, who has not been identified publicly due to her age.
The allegations were made public June 6, when the student’s mother interrupted the high school’s graduation ceremony and accused Rodrigues of behaving inappropriately toward her daughter, as seen in video captured by Brockton Community Access.
Two days later, Rodrigues was served with a harassment prevention order, requiring him to remain 100 yards away from the student.
At a June 22 hearing on whether to extend the harassment prevention order, the student alleged Rodrigues approached her while she was serving as a section leader for the school’s marching band at Brockton Public Schools’ Huntington Day Parade on May 22. She said the mayor placed his left hand around her waist and continued to pull her closer.
“His face was very close to mine … He pulled me closer to him. I remember trying to pull away,” she said.
At the June hearing, however, a Hingham District Court judge declined to extend the order, finding the alleged conduct did not meet the legal standard required to continue the harassment prevention order. Still, the judge described the conduct as “unwelcome, offensive, and certainly unprofessional.”
Rodrigues also testified during the hearing, acknowledging that he had placed his hands on the student’s waist during the parade and saying he “felt awful” after learning she was uncomfortable.
“As the father of three daughters, also being someone who always protected children, I don’t want anybody to feel uncomfortable for something I did,” he said.
Rodrigues’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening.
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