OLD LYME – A 9-month-old legal effort to force town officials to disclose the details of an alleged sexual assault, and the name of the accused, came to a dramatic conclusion at a hearing in early December when Old Lyme’s first selectman was ordered to produce previously undisclosed incident reports in her possession since March 19.
Testifying under subpoena on Dec. 9, First Selectman Martha Shoemaker told a hearing officer for the state’s Freedom of Information Commission that she had in her possession incident reports related to an alleged sexual assault of a teenage intern by a part-time EMT for OId Lyme – but could not say when she had received them.
The surprise disclosure, under questioning by Attorney Valicia Harmon, who presided over the hearing for the commission, was tacit admission that the town had failed to turn over requested public documents as required by law if Shoemaker had received the documents after the March 18 incident but prior to the June 24 Freedom of Information request.
Shoemaker was ordered to produce the reports, which show that Shoemaker had the documents in her possession since the time of the incident, in breach of the law.
Harmon: So you’ve never seen the incident reports?
Shoemaker: Yes, I have. I have them now.
Harmon: Do you know when you received them?
Shoemaker: I do not know an exact date at this time. I would have to go back and pull my file.
Harmon: I guess what’s important is at the time that the request was received on June 24, 2024, whether you had the incident reports in your possession; the alleged victim and the alleged perpetrator’s versions of what happened when this request was received. Is it possible that you had them?
Shoemaker: It’s possible.
Harmon: Have you disclosed them?
Shoemaker: I have not.
Harmon ordered Shoemaker to either produce an affidavit within seven days affirming that she had received the documents after CT Examiner filed a Freedom of Information request, or turn over the documents.
The following Monday evening, Town Attorney Kristi D. Kelly turned over significantly-redacted copies of the documents showing that they had been emailed to Shoemaker on March 19 – just one day after the alleged incident.
The undisclosed documents, which had been requested first on March 28 and again on June 24, offer a detailed account of workplace horseplay between Bret David Siegel, a married 34-year-old EMT and firefighter, and a female teenage intern, that over the course of a day allegedly escalated into repeated incidents of verbal sexual harassment by Siegel and repeated unwanted touching of the teenager’s body and genitals.
Among the previously undisclosed documents was also a brief written denial by Siegel made prior to his resignation. In a statement, Siegel acknowledged that he had “engaged in conversation” and “tickled,” the intern, but said he was unaware that his actions made her uncomfortable or that she had wanted him to stop.
In a written statement to CT Examiner, State Police Trooper Remonda Zhuta said that after a nine-month investigation of the incident, the case was closed on Dec. 14 after a court declined to sign a prepared arrest warrant.
“It speaks volumes that after my client’s complete cooperation and a lengthy investigation the decision was made to refuse to bring charges,” Jack Donovan, an attorney representing Siegel in the case, responded in a written statement.
It remains unclear when Kristi Kelly, an attorney with Suisman Shapiro, the firm vetting documents for the town, first became aware that documents had been withheld.
Kelly did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
Kelly’s legal claim at the hearing that the town was justified in withholding Siegel’s name from public disclosure – town attorneys redacted his name from a resignation letter released April 30 – was met with sharp questioning by Harmon, who pointed out the claimed exemption applied only to police investigations, not to town officials.
The Town of Old Lyme has yet to acknowledge the incident, the allegations of sexual assault, or that Siegel had resigned from employment with the town.
Kelly also objected to the addition of a text message into the record which showed that the town had failed to disclose or release text messages related to the incident.
CT Examiner provided the March 20 text, from Shoemaker to members of the Board of Selectmen, in response to testimony by Shoemaker denying under oath that she had discussed the incident by text with town officials.