To the Editor:
Martha Shoemaker, the First Selectwoman of Old Lyme, was recently fined by the State’s Freedom of Information Commission for failing to disclose incident reports and other pertinent documents of an alleged sexual assault of a teenage intern at the hands of an EMT at the Old Lyme Ambulance Association. This has been reported by NBC Connecticut and local newspapers including The Day and CT Examiner.
Shoemaker was found guilty in a prior Freedom of Information Commission hearing of failing to produce those documents which was a serious violation of the law. The incident reports were only made available once the Freedom of Information Commission hearing occurred. The hearing occurred as a result of a Freedom of Information complaint by the CT Examiner. The Freedom of Information Commission hearing occurred 160 days after the documents had been requested based on the Freedom of Information. This represents untenable behavior by a First Selectwoman.
Those reports described in detail the teenager’s account of the incident which, she said, included verbal sexual harassment and repeated, unwanted touching of her body and genitals through her clothes.
While those documents were withheld, a State Police investigation did not result in charging the EMT with any crime. The EMT resigned and is no longer in Old Lyme.
But, that person is free to repeat the same actions in some other town. That could have been your daughter or granddaughter. It can be someone else’s daughter or granddaughter in the future.
It is impossible to excuse Ms. Shoemaker’s conduct in this situation. Breaking the law to protect the name of the accused was irresponsible and reprehensible.
The right result is to remove Ms. Shoemaker from our town government by not re-electing her in this year’s election.
Gina Garreffi
Old Lyme, CT