Former N.H. Attorney General Cleared in Sex Assault Case, But Still Out of a Job - Richard L. Davis

THE SILENCE IS DEAFENING
Former N.H. Attorney General Cleared in Sex Assault Case, But Still Out of a Job

July 25, 2004

by Richard L. Davis

It isn’t only the probe of sexual assault allegations, reported in the Boston Globe story that is bizarre. What is truly bizarre is the unreported story within the story.

Nearly a month after he resigned in the wake of sexual assault allegations the former attorney general, Peter W. Heed, expressed relief at being cleared of all charges. The alleged incident took place at a dance following a conference on Domestic and Sexual Violence. The report that cleared Heed notes that there was, “no evidence of any physical contact between the Attorney General and any person that was unwarranted, unpleasant, or inappropriate.” What is truly bizarre is that the woman who reported the sexual assault allegation knew all along that no sexual assault took place. Why then you might ask, did she make the allegation?

Cheryl Reid claimed that when the incident occurred she found the encounter was at the most, inappropriate, but she never considered it to be any type of assault, sexual or otherwise. What both Heed and Reid agree did happen was that while she was dancing on a dance floor, Heed placed his hands on her hips and his hands slid as high as her ribs. This behavior took place on a crowded dance floor in the plain sight of many people.

So a man’s career lies in ruins because of a sexual assault charges brought by a woman who knew that she was never sexually assaulted. The fact understated, downplayed, or ignored is that Reid, admits that the only reason she brought the charges forward is that she feared she was going to be reprimanded for taking a photograph of Heed dancing at the event.

Heed claims to be gratified to have his name cleared, however, he notes the dangerousness of unchecked rumor. “The whole thing is bizarre, said Kathy Sullivan, chairwoman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. None one seems to note that the “Basic Instinct” of Reid is reprehensible, to say the least.

What is truly bizarre in the entire story is that no one, Reid, Heed, Sullivan or the Boston Globe reporter seems to find Reid’s behavior inappropriate. Perhaps I’m a bit old fashioned, however, the fact is, at her own admission Reid only made these allegations against Heed because she feared she was going to be reprimanded.

How is it possible that no one made mention that Reid’s charge is – at her own admission – an act of retribution. It is unethical if not immoral. Reid, by her own admission did not feel offended until after she thought she might be punished. Her actions were completely and purposely revengeful in an attempt to counter the reprimand that she thought was forth coming.

What is not bizarre is that her act of vengeance, revenge, payback, and reprisal are lost on everyone in the guise of seeking justice. Wrapped with domestic violence political correctness this mud seemed to be cleansed. Reid sought to settle the score, not to seek justice, for an act that was, by her own admission, never committed. Heed ended up so humiliated that he resigned. Do I need to ask if this story is familiar to anyone?

Richard L. Davis served in the United States Marine Corps from 1960 to 1964. He is a retired lieutenant from the Brockton, Massachusetts police department. He has a graduate degree in criminal justice from Anna Maria College and another in liberal arts from Harvard University. He has a BA from Bridgewater State College in History and he minored in secondary education. He is a member of the International Honor Society of Historians and an instructor of Criminology, Group Violence and Terrorism, Criminal Justice and Domestic Violence at Quincy College in Plymouth, MA. He is a past president of the Community Center for Non-Violence in New Bedford, Massachusetts and the vice president for Family Nonviolence, Inc. www.familynonviolence.com in Fairhaven, MA. He is an independent consultant for criminal justice agencies concerning policies, procedures, and programs concerning domestic violence. He is the author of Domestic Violence: Facts and Fallacies by Praeger publishers and has written numerous articles for newspapers, journals, and magazines concerning the issue of domestic violence. He has columns concerning domestic violence at www.policeone.com, and www.nycop.com, is a distance learner instructor in Introduction to Criminal Justice and Domestic Violence for the Online Police Academy and has a website at www.policewriter.com. He and Kim Eyer have a domestic violence website The Cop and the Survivor at http://www.rhiannon3.net/cs/. He lives in Plymouth, Massachusetts with his wife and the two youngest of five children. He experienced domestic violence professionally for 21 years as a police officer and personally as a child and as an adult. In his retirement he continues to use his education, experience, and training to help the children, women, and men who have had to endure violence from those who profess to love them. He may be reached at rldavis@post.harvard.edu.