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Tewksbury - Tewksbury faces a potentially large payout from a lawsuit filed against the town the town, its police chief and former dispatcher by a resident on Dec. 16.

The suit, filed by a Tewksbury woman, alleges several members of the police department attempted to intimidate her and sway her against pursuing a criminal complaint against her uncle, a former police dispatcher, for his convicted sexual assault of her two years ago.

The plaintiff and defendant’s uncle, Neil McLaughlin, 53, was convicted by a Middlesex Superior Court jury on charges of assault to rape and indecent assault and battery in July and is currently serving a two and a half year term at the Billerica House of Correction. The former police dispatcher was acquitted of rape and was fired from his job of police dispatcher in August.
McLaughlin, who has filed for an appeal, is also the brother-in-law of current police chief and plaintiff, Alfred Donovan, who was in training at the time the incident occurred.

The woman, whose name has not been revealed because of the nature of the crime, is seeking an unspecified monetary compensation for what the suit names as a violation of her civil rights including emotional distress, damage to her reputation, loss of earning and earning capacity.

The town’s counsel, Leonard Kesten deemed the lawsuit an “unfortunate situation” and a “sad case.”

“We are looking at it and we are hoping to sit down with the defendant and her attorney, [Mark Itzkowitz] and discuss a possible solution,” said Kesten.
Kesten added if the town is found liable in the suit and is unable to come to an agreement with the defendant, the money would not come from the taxpayers directly because the town is covered by insurance.

The lawsuit documents state that on Aug. 31, 2003, McLaughlin, who was staying with the plaintiff’s mother at the time, entered the plaintiff’s room in a drunken stupor and sexually assaulted her against her will while her infant son was sleeping in the same room.

The lawsuit alleges after the plaintiff reported the crime to her mother the next day, her mother asked her to allow her time to discuss the sexual assault with McLaughlin, Donovan and Donovan’s wife before reporting the assault to the police.

The lawsuit also states that McLaughlin, who as of Dec. 19 had not been served in jail as a defendant, contacted the plaintiff the next day and apologized after admitting to his behavior.

The plaintiff’s mother informed her that she along with McLaughlin, Donovan and his wife agreed to handle the assault “quietly within the family to protect the family honor” and avoid criminal proceedings on the terms that McLaughlin agreed to seek help and leave his job with the Tewksbury Police Department, according to the lawsuit.

The suit also states that after McLaughlin publicly denied his sexual assault of the plaintiff several times, the plaintiff’s mother and Tewksbury police employees and officers continued to vehemently encourage her to keep the assault “within the family.” During this time, the plaintiff’s mother, without the knowledge of the plaintiff, recorded a telephone conversation with McLaughlin where he admitted his guilt.

McLaughlin’s former criminal attorney, Jeffrey Higgins, said it was this tape that was the key incriminating evidence against his client.

“The tape was a big controversy,” said Higgins, adding that recording an audio conversation without consent of both parties is a felony in the state of Massachusetts. However, if a private citizen records the conversation, the recording is admissible. “But the federal wire-tape statute says if you make a tape with the purpose of breaking a state law, then it is not admissible.”

In December 2003, the plaintiff reported the incident to Tewksbury police.
Because the plaintiff’s mother did not inform her of several unreturned attempts to contact her by Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone’s office, the investigation was closed in April 2004 — four months after Leone’s office took over the investigation due to the conflict of interest matter surrounding the case. The plaintiff also indicated she had second thoughts reporting her uncle.

The suit also alleges that Donovan put more pressure on the plaintiff not to report the assault in December 2004, after he intentionally inaccurately reported an incident where the plaintiff was arrested for a domestic assault involving her mother and several intoxicated aunts, who Donovan neglected to report were present at the time.

Leone’s office dropped the assault charges against the victim and reopened the sexual assault case in March 2005.

Town Manager David Cressman said the town attorneys have advised him to give no comment at this time.

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