The Hartford Police Department is currently investigating an incident involving two fourteen year-old participants in the Hartford PAL program.
On Tuesday, May 7th, members of the Hartford Police Department responded to the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center on a report of a sexual assault. During the course of the preliminary investigation, it was determined that the location of incident was at the PAL program located at 50 Williams St. Initial investigation revealed that a juvenile male lured a juvenile female to an unsupervised area of the building. The victim alleges that the suspect performed a lewd sexual act, at which point they then both returned to the program. The incident was reported to the police the following day, at which point appropriate action was taken, and an immediate investigation was launched. The suspect in this incident has been suspended from the program pending the outcome of the investigation. DCF has been notified, and are conducting a parallel investigation into the matter.
A forensic interview was conducted with the victim by the Klingberg Family Centers in Hartford. These interviews are conducted by independent organizations by qualified personnel. This is done to preserve the integrity of the investigation and also to provide services to the victim and their family members. Klingberg works with the courts, police and DCF to provide and coordinate services.
The PAL program is operated by a board of directors from various organizations throughout the city and provide services to youth, between the ages of 6 to 18, with alternatives to violence, gang membership, truancy and substance abuse. The programs instill the importance of integrity, respect, discipline, self-esteem, leadership, teamwork and other valuable life skills that increase individual self-worth and breed success. The overall PAL program offers a variety of programs which serves 60-90 kids per weeknight as well as weekends when field trips, competitive athletics and other programs are conducted. There are currently over 1,500 youth in the newly formed database.
The PAL program is a not for profit 501 (c)(3) compliant to the portion of the US Internal Revenue Code that allows for federal tax exemption of nonprofit organizations, specifically those that are considered public charities, private foundations or private operating foundations.
The criminal investigation is being conducted by the Special Investigations Division (SID) of the Hartford Police Department.
Further information regarding the incident will be provided at the conclusion of the investigation.
LT. Paul C. Cicero
Major Crimes Division & Media Relations
45 comments:
Where was the sgt ??
What will happen ????
1- disbanded PAL program
2- moved to another location
3- same old same old ......
4- immediately replace hpd staff
5- sanitize the auditorium stage
Where was the Sergeant and who was the Sergeant?
This is how it should go down, 1st, hand Marfalla a tooth brush, 2nd, send him north b squad. 3rd, bounce Nikki back to patrol because she’s useless, 4th send the expert, genius level police lieutenant Rodriguez-valez back to patrol. And first and foremost rip the cord right off her keyboard!!! The stupid emails have to end... for the love of god please!!
The first thing that needs to be addressed is the inadequate supervision.
Will DCF be able to investigate? They must be overwhelmed with all of the false DCF reports coming out of Hartford Schools.
Where was all the staff period nice try clown
Wow guess ill have to stop sending my kids there this type of mess should not happen at a place supervised by law enforcement what a joke
I just love knowing that I work with such upstanding officers that love putting their coworkers down.. They absolutely get off on it. What shameful people they are. Those that are commenting negatively are the same lazy asses on the job but love to throw stones. Brookman, you encourage this.. Shameful
Nikki Sherwood what a total waste.
She does nothing is Incompetent and useless.
It should not be called PAL at all. Police officers are no longer involved in the program. It should be renamed the Civilian Athletic League. And no Marfella and Nikki do not count as officers. They have never been one anyway.
Tha Hartford PAL has been around for,many years and was active in my memory since the early 1980’s when I became a Hartford Police Officer I’m 1981. In the decades that followed and until after 2000 the Hartford PAL didn’t have the resources or city wide backup to be anything more than in small parts of the city. This lack of resources did not diminish the great work done by several city police officers from making that organization a small success. I’m talking about Marc Rubera and Mike Matthews who worked with little resources to make a good product. Many current and recently retired Hartford Police Officers were participants in the PAL program and went on to become good police officers.
The program has grown greatly over the past decade. Based at the former Quirk Middle School and backed by dedicated volunteers and staffed by police officers the program serves thousands of Hartford Youth. In the great majority of programs Hartford youth are taught
respect, leadership, teamwork and this all improves self esteem missing in many. The current PAL program instills stability in young lives
and is a positive factor in the great majority of the lives of those who take advantage of this Program.
I have been fortunate to have several University students intern at PAL. The students see the positive impact they can have on city youth
and learn a great deal from the experience. They become role models and mentors for many of the PAL kids and learn a valuable lesson
in the benefits of community service.
PAL gets kids involved in many positive experiences that they will remember for a lifetime. This is a program with so many great volunteers that they can not be mentioned here. Retired and current officers, civic leaders, business leaders and others have combined to provide the resources to make the program work.
The incident that is being investigated is troubling and if verified shows that one 14 year old is in trouble and will face the consequences.
It is not an indictment of the entire program which is of great benefit to 99% of the participants.
Anonymity is the enemy of moral courage.
Chris Lyons
Retired Hartford Police
Class of 81
Anonymity is the enemy of moral courage? Thats real easy for someone to say that doesnt have to fear consequences. Funny Chris you were on the PD when a Detective sued the department for officers rocking spider web tattoos which was a clear symbol of the Aryan Nation. You never spoke out against it nor defend the officer. Some people are afraid to sign their name because the retaliation will be brutal. Dude you love to throw stones but other than arrest criminals what social injustice did you ever speak out against. SMH
Chris.....you're beginning to sound like James Comey
I would have loved to see a body camera on you when you choked that trinity student.... oh snap
Any truth to racist Lanza getting his job back???
I am being told the State ordered him to be rehired
Funny, how is Lanza a racist? I guess Rovella, Foley, Cicero, and Kessler are just really nice guys. I bet you won’t post this because you are also a racist! You let minorities get assassinated all the time on your blog, but the negative comments about the white guys never get posted. I see a trend here.
Gee haven’t been at Trinity for 7 years and unless it was the kid who threw the bottle at me who got arrested by Shawn
St. John that might be the only time anything like that happened. Mr. Anonymous has a good memory it like Dr. Evil said is
“Inconsequential”.
As for the spider web tattoos I told each person getting one that it was a bad idea and sent a terrible message to the public and
other officers. To their face. Not like you. If you would like to discuss further just come and find me. I’ll be back to work soon and
and in Hartford. Not too hard to find to discuss anything.
Chris Lyons
8:30am
how would you know comments don't get posted unless you are the one writing them. Racism goes both ways
Ok Kevin I got the scoop from the horses mouth. Monty one of the city employees who works for Parks and Recs stated he had to discipline both of the kids involved before. Apparently when Sergeant Austin and his staff were running it he gave Monty the authority to kick out the trouble makers and knuckleheads as he saw fit. Monty caught that boy and girl in the girls bathroom once before and they were having sex. He reported it and told them both to never come back. This seems like a case of a parent not accepting the fact that their child is Hot in the Pants and decided to look for a scapegoat by filing a complaint with law enforcement. Now the question of was any information relayed between the officers who were leaving that PAL post to the new officers coming in? Either way its a sad situation but blame should directed at the right people.
Sorry to bother you Kevin you are a busy man taking on the corrupt Hartford school system but I wanted to inform about the madness and craziness going on at the Parker Memorial Center.Recently an employee was under investigation because she had a birthday party there and was serving alcohol and there were also male strippers there. Now Im not positively sure but can city employees serve alcohol on premises and hire exoctic dancers? The reckless kids come into that building with their drugs and weapons and nothing seems to be done about it. From my understanding Troy Stewart is one of the head bosses of Hartford Parks and Recs. Now second shift staff really need to get their act together you have some staff like Leslie who come to work clock in and leave (larceny), other staff that drink on the job and sit around and do nothing. And there is one citizen that always comes into the building flashing his gun and threatens to shoot people if anyone pisses him off. Goes by the name of Antonio Dyson who was dating Cynthia Jennings. Officers Rowe and Gentry had to respond to a call there once because this nutjob threatened one of the staff but is still allowed in the building. i would like to know what was the outcome of that incident. Parker Center is a beautiful great place but between some of the riff raff citizens and lazy staff that work there it really needs to be cleaned up. By the way what is the law pertaining to citizens carrying firearms on city property I thought only law enforcement could do that even if said citizen has a pistol permit??!!!
Chris Lyons you are a nice guy but do us all a favor and stay retired. Policing has changed a lot since your heyday. We can only take so much of your war stories of back in the day chasing Macho or Flaco down Park Street and breaking up the Solids. Stop living in the past my friend. These Zebra codes don't care nor do they know who you are. You did these things in the 90s. Macho and Flaco are now signed up for AARP. You've been gone twenty years now. Let it go. If Mr. Brookman's blog was around during your time you would also post anonymously for obvious reasons. Who are you kidding. Next time we meet at Uhart let's not discuss anymore war stories. You sound like Al Bundy relieving his HS football glory days.
8:30am
I think you need to go back and educate yourself, There have been plenty of comments posted here about Foley, Kessler and others, It must be easy for you to throw around the term racist to cover for you own incompetence and that huge chip on your shoulder. I also think if you opened your eyes you would see that Major Crimes is running pretty smooth under Lt. Cicero and producing some good results even though they are short staffed
For those willing to take a shot at the PAL program Officers, let me ask, when was the last time you volunteered to help at a PAL event or offered to help mentor a child. PAL is a worthwhile program but it probably does need more adult involvement from Police Officers that can act like adults. I have been at a couple of PAL events over the last couple years and I know there are Officers that donate their time to make it work. Whether it is driving a tractor for the hayrides or helping at the Halloween events, even a handful of recruits from the Academy classes helped out. Out of almost 400 HPD Officers, a handful get involved in nurturing Hartford youth. Step away from your flaming keyboard and go put in a couple hours at PAL
Hey Chris Lyons ,You never responded to a question i had back in December , if you don’t mind I’ll ask it here again ,NOT that I fear asking you “face to face” but it’s more convenient . Chris Lyons, Are you pleased to see military veterans in CT and across this country finally getting “some” of the much needed services they earned??? These men and women (especially those at their worst )were getting shit on for decades UNTIL (Get this Chris Lyons) “ANONYMOUS” WHISTLEBLOWERS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY STEPPED UP!!!!! The phrase DELAY,DENY AND WAIT FOR THEM TO DIE was exposed to the general public by these “ANONYMOUS WHISTLEBLOWERS” . My friend was an “ANONYMOUS WHISTLEBLOWER” who shined an “ ANONYMOUS” spotlight on what a shithole the State runned Veterans Home in Rocky Hill was and still is. That was over a decade ago . He was outed and fired by his supervisors,he has spent thousands of his own money in legal fees to get his job AND good name back. The State of CT and his supervisors have spared no energy and expense to punish him for what he exposed “ANONYMOUSLY”. Regardless if Chris Lyons thinks your weak and spineless ,PLEASE PROTECT YOURSELF!!!!! THERE IS NO SHAME IN POSTING ANONYMOUSLY !!!! Brookman YOU seem to play for both teams regarding this issue ,it would be nice if you could pick a side. Am I gonna hear crickets again Chris Lyons??? Or are your balls so big you have no reservation in calling those brave men and women mentioned above PU$$Ys for not attaching their names to the FACTS they provided. Chris Lyons save yourself from further EMBARRASMENT and let that antiquated TOUGH GUY bullshit go.
Marc Rubera Is a Former Hartford Ct Cop.
Marc Rubera was also under Investigation Years ago for Having Sexual
Relations with an Underage 18 Year old Girl Affiliated with
The Hartford Ct PAL PROGRAM.
No Rubera is not a Good Role Model.
You mean the same Mark Rubera that was using youth pal kids to run a furniture manufacturing facility on broad street? That Mark Rubera??
I think 50 J will be involuntarily sending some of their “all stars” over to PAL for their new assignments. 29’s will get you every time. Don’t worry you can still wear jeans. Just lose the tac vest!
Racist ROBERT LANZA should not be given his Job back.
He Got DRUNK and used the N WORD AND
other
Racial comments.
Im urging my BLACK BROS STAY AWAY FROM RACIST
ROBERT LANZA!!!!!!!!!!!
He always said Racist things.
I remember when MARC RUBERA WAS UNDER INVESTIGATION
BY WORKERS COMP FOR PUTTIN A NEW ROOF ON HIS HOUSE. HE WAS HOME AND PHOTOGRAPED ON THE ROOF. HE WAS OUT ON COMP.
OH YEAH HES A SCAMMER AND WORKS NOW AS A CONSTABLE SOMEWHERE.
Nobody cares what you think Donovan Thorpe, go study for the sergeants test, maybe THIS time you will pass! Bahahaha
Keep up the good work ofc hebert!!! Civil litigation will be the karma for u.
Donovan Torpe is a good cop
and a better man.
Hey lyons.
Are you going to go and support shawn st john when the federal jury makes his guilty judgement in a few monthes?
If i was him, i would put that big house in a trust and hide that larceny of a pension from the city.
Save me your left wing frantic vomit.
Hey Will Smith, nice to hear you are still around. Is playing Chess inside McDonalds your full time job now? SMH...
thank you Donovan for your comment
What happened???
Hey Chris Lyons and you too Brookman ,,, WHY NO RESPONSE TO MY REQUEST AT 6:08 PM ??? Chris Lyons, you might as well state something, because my crystal ball shows me that your only going to REPEAT and REPEAT and REPEAT the same nonsense about commenting “ANONYMOUSLY” And you know what I’m going to to do ?????? YES!!! REPEAT and REPEAT and REPEAT my question regarding your view of “ANONYMOUS” whistleblowers related to veterans getting shit on. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THEM?????? HELLO???????? IS THIS THING WORKING??????
Good luck kelly hope you win your case that place is a cesspool of corruption, racism and BS its shown right here on this blog. May the good lord watch over you. Just saw in the Courant an indipendant agency is going to investigate that neo nazi wanna be regime cant wait to see what they find.
2:24PM time to restate, I guess that comments should apply to the topic, I don't always adhere to that, but hateful messages like yours will be removed at my discretion
Chris Lyons ,,, How did you know who had what kind of tattoos where????? I was never a cop so I’m totally ignorant in this area . Chris ,did you do some kind of naked skin exam like a dermatologist in order to locate,identify as offensive or not and addresss individual “to their face” if the tattoo was inappropriate ??? These physical observations along with your conclusion of why these individuals selected a particular tattoo design and location is a bit disturbing to me. Appears to me you acted as judge and jury ,not to professional for a police officer.
4:08PM Police Officers do wear short sleeve shirts so a spider web on the elbow would most likely be very visible. Chris was widely known as an "expert" on Gang culture, and even today the spider web on the elbow is thought to be an indication of White Supremacy, I am not sure where that comes from or the reasoning behind it, but that was the belief. I think if you took the time to ask a Police Officer or a Correction Officer, or even a tattoo artist, you might find that many tattoo's have somewhat hidden meanings, many of them only known to certain subcultures.. Chris is correct whether you like it or not
4:08. You start off saying you know nothing about tattoos then talk about how Chris is a judge. You then proceed to judge him for not being professional. Think about that.
He sure is! And aliens are going to land next week and take over the earth!
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