By MELINDA J. OVERSTREET
for Glasgow News 1
The employment of a former Glasgow police chief who later became an officer was terminated Thursday by Mayor Henry Royse.
The Glasgow Police Department issued the following press release Friday morning:
“Today, Mayor Henry Royse issued his written findings and decision in the pending disciplinary matter regarding Officer Guy Turcotte of the Glasgow Police Department. Following a due process hearing conducted pursuant to Kentucky law, Mayor Royse’s decision is to immediately terminate Officer Turcotte from service.”
Turcotte was the GPD’s chief for almost four years before he stepped down from that position at the end of 2014, as the mayor who had hired him was leaving her term in office, but he stayed with the department and has had other roles and/or ranks since then, most recently as a detective.
An adult female Barren County resident filed a complaint against Turcotte with the GPD on Jan. 28, and on Jan. 30, the same person requested an interpersonal protective order to keep Turcotte away from her, alleging that he touched her inappropriately on her upper thigh, immediately below the groin area, at her workplace while he was a customer there. She testified later that he said and did other things as well that made her uncomfortable and even fearful.
Protective-order matters are considered in family court, even if the individuals are not related. Because Turcotte, who is married, and this woman are not related, married or in any sort of romantic relationship, the standard for an IPO to be issued was that the judge had to find that stalking or sexual assault took place. Family Court Judge Mica Pence, after a Feb. 8 hearing, determined there was sufficient evidence that the latter of those two occurred. She issued the IPO for a one-year period, and it remains in effect after a failed attempt by Turcotte to get it overturned by the Kentucky Court of Appeals.
That matter is considered a civil – as opposed to criminal – matter.
On April 20, a Kentucky State Police sergeant filed a criminal complaint, and Turcotte was charged with a misdemeanor: harassment with physical contact. That case is still pending adjudication, with the next pretrial hearing scheduled for this coming Thursday. Even though it is a Barren County case, those proceedings are taking place in Monroe District Court in Tompkinsville, because a special prosecutor and special judge who both are based in Monroe County were appointed due to potential conflicts of interest. The Barren County attorney and Barren District Court judge have had and potentially could have continued to have, depending on the outcome of the situation, interactions with Turcotte in his professional capacity.
Turcotte was initially placed on paid administrative leave the day the complaint was filed, and that status changed to unpaid administrative leave effective May 5.
Written findings
In Royse’s 11-page written findings – signed and dated Thursday and acquired Friday by Glasgow News 1 via an open records request – on the internal matter of whether Turcotte violated GPD policy, he states that the due-process hearing that is required under state law unless waived by the law enforcement officer in question took place July 18, but Turcotte did not attend. His attorney, Matt Baker, pointed out that, because of the pending criminal case, Turcotte had the right to not testify and possibly incriminate himself, and he asked that the hearing be postponed. The GPD’s attorney, Ian Loos, pointed to a case precedent that allowed for proceedings of an administrative nature to continue while other charges were pending, so Royse decided to move on with the hearing, according to the written findings.
Turcotte could have requested that the hearing be public, but he did not choose to do so.
“[A]ssuming for argument’s sake, the criminal charges are ultimately dismissed, or Officer Turcotte is ultimately acquitted, his conduct relative to this proceeding still warrants disciplinal’y (sic) action in terms of his continued employment as a sworn law enforcement officer with the GPD,” the findings state.
The original complainant and two of her co-workers, who had also filed separate complaints against Turcotte, testified. In addition to corroborating the original complainant’s description of Turcotte’s inappropriate behaviors and words, it was said that he used his badge and status as a police officer while he was off duty to gain access to a restricted area within the business, according to the written findings.
Royse states that he relied heavily, but not entirely, upon the record from the family court hearing, noting there are different levels of burden of proof in the different types of proceedings.
“Much was made of the amount of time that Officer Turcotte ‘engaged’ [the complainant] in this touching. I find that nuanced issue a red herring. Whether it was five seconds or five minutes is immaterial in my judgment. No one deserves to be subjected to such unwelcome and demeaning behavior. It was clear to me from [the complainant] testimony and the testimony of her coworkers who witnessed [the complainant] after the incident, that Officer Turcotte’s actions had a genuine and significant emotional impact on [the complainant] (sic),” Royse’s findings state.
“I find that there was no real proof submitted by Officer Turcotte’s attorney or elicited from the witnesses during attorney Baker’s cross examination of them, to refute that these comments and behavior by Officer Turcotte in the [business], in fact, occurred. Rather, attorney Baker attempted to downplay his client’s comments and behavior. The argument was that he is just a gregarious individual, and that he is ‘touchy-feely’ for lack of a better term. (sic) That argument falls well short in my judgment,” the findings state.
Ultimately, Royse found that Turcotte was guilty of violating the GPD’s policies regarding ethics and code of conduct.
“Having found that Officer Turcotte has violated the GPD policies, it is my decision that the GPD’s recommendation that he be immediately terminated from service should stand and I adopt that recommended disciplinary action as my own. Officer Turcotte shall be, and hereby is, immediately terminated from service as a police officer with the Glasgow Police Department and he shall fully cooperate with Chief Guy Howie in returning all city property to the GPD (sic),” the finding states.
Turcotte has 30 days in which to appeal the decision by filing a lawsuit in Barren Circuit Court, an action he has taken twice before – without success – when he has felt the department wronged him.
— NOTE: Glasgow News 1 chooses not to reveal the identity of people who are alleged or proven to have been sexually assaulted unless they specifically request otherwise.
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