The Stoughton police chief says that three officers had inappropriate relationships with a girl who later killed herself. On Friday, the former chief of police in Stoughton said that three former officers had an inappropriate relationship with a teenager who later killed herself.
Chief Donna McNamarra of the Stoughton Police Department released “deeply troubling” results from an 18-month internal affairs investigation on Friday. Officers Matthew Farwell, his twin brother William Farwell, and Robert Devine were found to have done “serious misconduct.”
McNamarra says that Sandra Birchmore, a 23-year-old member of the Stoughton Police Explorers program in 2010, was befriended and used by all of the officers.
Sandra Birchmore Obituary
On February 4, 2021, Sandra Birchmore, who was 23 years old, was found dead in her Canton apartment. The next day, Stoughton Police began an internal investigation to find out if any officers had done anything wrong. Donna McNamara, the chief of police in Stoughton, said that what happened was a “deeply disturbing pattern of behavior.”
“Our investigation discovered that Matthew Farwell exploited Miss. Birchmore, a young woman, who was 13 when she met him until Matthew Farwell decided to end the relationship.”Â