Blue Mass Group

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Strip-search victim speaks out, says Perry “had to hear me screaming and crying”

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At this point, can there be any serious doubt that Jeff Perry is not fit to serve in the Congress of the United States?

Lisa Allen, who was 14 years old when Perry’s subordinate officer Scott Flanagan groped and illegally strip-searched her, has issued a damning statement that directly contradicts everything that Jeff Perry has been saying all along.  Here is her statement:

I cannot stand by silently any longer while what happened to me is discussed in the press. It upsets me that Jeff Perry can run for Congress after what he did to me when I was fourteen years old.

Jeff Perry was nearby when Scott Flanagan illegally strip searched me. Perry knew what Flanagan did, he had to hear me screaming and crying. Instead of helping me, Jeff Perry denied anything happened. Even after Scott Flanagan admitted the truth under oath and pled guilty, Perry never apologized for allowing Flanagan to abuse me. Now he has said he would not do anything differently if he had the chance.

Perry did not care about protecting teen-aged girls in Wareham from police officer Flanagan. Jeff Perry cared only about protecting police officer Flanagan.

Chief Joyce now says Jeff Perry was a good cop. Neither Chief Joyce nor Sgt. Perry were good cops. Chief Joyce refused to investigate when my mother complained about what Flanagan did to me. Like Perry, Chief Joyce protected police officer Flanagan instead of protecting teen-aged girls from police officer Flanagan.

Jeff Perry was not an honest police sergeant; he should not be in a position of power.

Now, just to refresh your recollection, the Globe has helpfully run down the numerous contradictory assertions that Perry has made about this incident.

Perry initially said that he was in a position to see and hear everything that happened that night and that the assault never occurred…. In sworn testimony for a civil suit filed by the girl’s family, Perry said he had been on the scene at the Wareham cranberry bog, in a position to see and hear everything. But Perry said in an interview with the Globe earlier this year that whatever happened that night “did not occur in my presence,” a discrepancy he attributed to a faulty memory.

And then there’s this:

Perry was about 15 feet away at the time, according to a State Police investigation of the incident.

Fifteen feet away, for God’s sake.  And that’s according to the State Police, who one would not expect to be out to blame the cops on the scene.  Yet he did nothing, instead defending Flanagan later.

Perry has never answered the allegations about this appalling incident satisfactorily, and today’s development raises a very serious question of whether he has simply been lying all along to protect himself.

It is time for respectable Republicans to give up on Jeff Perry.  Senator Brown, Governor Romney, you should revoke your endorsement.  Perry is not worthy of your support.

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  1. On a day when Anita Hill’s critics are coming out of the woodwork again to undercut her, I’m sure a few will will try to undercut you, too, Ms. Allen. For whatever small comfort it’s worth, I believe you.*

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    p>I can’t tell you just how much I want Jeff Perry to lose this election. Words fail me.

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    p>(*That might not sound like anything very important to anyone who hasn’t been assaulted, but trust me, the way people vilify/undercut/demean/belittle/dehumanize assault survivors, having someone believe you is a big deal.)

    • Yes, Gidget Commando – you are right.  I saw a comment asking “So why does she come forward now”?  When was she supposed to come forward?  When she was 16? or while he was in Florida?  By all means, when a person has the potential to come into power, that’s when you do something brave like come forward.  Kudos to Ms. Allen.  And shame on anyone who tries to victimize her yet again.

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      p>And, on a side note – kudos to Ms. Hill for once again demonstrating what a class act she is!

      • And if Ms. Allen makes any appearances and wants moral support, I’m happy to go, stand with her supporters, and give any crackpots, hecklers, and assorted do-badders the worst evil eye they’ve ever had. I’m talkin’ dead-cold stare, here. The kind that makes big burly guys with bad attitudes shiver and say, “Dude, that little one over there? She gives me the creeps.”

      • Why didn’t she come forward during any of the past 5 election cycles when Perry was running?

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        p>That is the basis of the ‘why now’.  Even Florida was over a decade ago.

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        p>This seems like a valid question.

        • that even you are signing on to the Perry Patriots’ “Blame the Victim” tour.

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          p>Let me answer your ridiculous question for you.  Because he is now running for Congress.  When he first ran to be a back-benching, powerless Republican in the state legislature, it’s quite understandable that Ms. Allen would weigh the pain of reliving the (then quite recent) assault against the prospect of Perry winning the race, and decided it wasn’t worth it.

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          p>The stakes are infinitely higher now.  The balance of power in the US Congress is in play, in case you hadn’t noticed, and if Perry wins, he’ll have a lot more power than he does as a state legislator.  Perfectly reasonable for Ms. Allen to have concluded that the balance has shifted, and it’s now time to come forward publicly.

          • It’s OK for an allegedly venal person to hold just POWERLESS public office?

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            p>The lady is 33 now.  Was she too traumatized to speak out at 31?  At 29?  

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            p>Or was is unnecessary as long as Democratic power balances were unaffected?

            • No, the issue is not the “balance of power in Congress,” but a candidate’s fitness for office.  Would many people care if Jeff Perry were elected dog catcher?  No, I imagine not.   Are you actually trying to suggest that there is some equivalence between a candidate for dog catcher, state rep, and the United States House of Representatives?  

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              p>And you folks decry the culture of moral relativity among liberals.  

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              p>A United States Congressman is held to a higher standard–or should be–than the local state rep and dog catcher because the moral and ethical weight associated with these offices is not equal.  If you are unable to discern the differences in moral and ethical responsibilities among these three elective offices, it is time for you to hang it up.  

              <

              p>Let me draw you a picture.  Sarah Palin?  Absolutely fine as the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, and maybe even as governor of Alaska, given its population and influence.  Sarah Palin as Vice President of the United States of America?  No. Freakin’. Way.  

              • Actually – no.  I do NOT think a Congressman should be held to a higher standard than a Rep. or dog catcher.

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                p>Why do YOU think that fitness is tied to the level of political celebrity?

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                p>Can a Rep rob a bank, but a Congressman only kite a check?  What IS the lighter ethical weight to be borne by a mere dog catcher?

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                p>Mind you, this DOES sum up the attitdue on BMG towards wrong doing by Democrats in the Legislature.  They just aren’t prominent enough to behave ethically, apparently.

                • that most dog catchers have a more finely tuned ethical and moral compass than most Congressmen, but that’s a different argument for another day.  The crux of this issue is the potential for harm and damage.

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                  p>As for this:

                  <

                  p>

                  Why do YOU think that fitness is tied to the level of political celebrity?

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                  p>This is not about celebrity.  This is about potential for damage.  

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                  p>Sarah Palin’s problem is not celebrity.  It’s her ignorance, superstition, and ideological certitude.  Consequently, I’m interested in limiting her range of infection, so to speak.  If the people of Alaska think she’s the perfect poison, let them have her, but the people in California are  affected by the votes of a congressman from Massachusetts  in ways they are not affected by the mayor of Wasilla or the governor of Alaska.  No comparison.  

                  <

                  p>We are an ethically challenged society on virtually all levels.  Very few people, let alone public officials who are required, by the nature of the beast, to prostitute their moral selves all the time, can claim an ethical and moral life.  People who turn the other way when a sexual assault of a minor child is occurring are not fit for the U.S. Congress.   Perhaps that person could effectively care for dogs and cats in a kennel.  Perhaps you disagree.  That’s okay.  

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                  p>  

                • It is as simple as that.

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                  p>I find it rather awkward that you want to defend a police officer who stood by while a screaming child was molested, just for the sake of political expediency.

            • Given the choice between an “allegedly venal person” holding a powerful public office and a powerless public office, yeah, I pick the latter.  How ’bout you?

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              p>I say again: give up on this guy.  You will be glad you did.  If you think this story is finished as of today, I think you will be sorely disappointed.

          • Let me answer your ridiculous question for you.  Because he is now running for Congress.

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            p>I was fighting the urge to emerge from my torpor to address PP’s question, but you saved me.   Eternal gratitude.  

        • Someone in power abuses you. Other people in power do nothing, in fact side with the perpetrator. How you gonna feel? What are you gonna do?

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          p>She did speak up. Her mother spoke upPerry lied about it and the other cop got away with it. Perry and the Chief covered it up. How would you feel?

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          p>We know what you feel, and the rest of your party. Look at the reaction she’s getting from Brown and Baker, and Redmass, and you. “Why now? Must be political. She was recruited.”

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          p>She was recruited? She asked for this?

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          p>Such compassion.

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          p>The question for you Prickly One;

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          p>What if it was your daughter?

          • If it were my daughter (yes, I have one.  Had two, actually, but lost one)and I knew her to be telling the absolute truth, there is no force on earth that could have compelled me to settle a court case.  But that is just me.

            <

            p>But I assure you, it is true.

  3. Do you know what you hear?  SILENCE

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    p>It is impossible for someone to be 15 feet way in a silent and remote area and not hear a young girl screaming as she is being sexually molested.

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    p>IMPOSSIBLE

  4. You may have heard him on WBUR this morning.

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    p>

    This is without a doubt the biggest political story since Brown’s winning Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat. What makes it powerful is that the case has gone from being described in court documents to one in which the victim lays out what happened. She was surely aware that this would be a huge story and she came forward anyway.

    What we should expect is a counterattack on Allen’s credibility and reputation. That’s the pattern when a politician is exposed by a victim – the politician’s supporters try to poke holes in the victim’s credibility. We saw this yesterday as Anita Hill was subjected to an unprovoked attack by the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, whom Hill accused of unwanted sexual overtures.

    Perry is a clear loser in this explosive development. His day of reckoning will come on Election Day. For Romney and Brown, they will face the very real prospect that they will be asked over and over, “What did you know and when did you know it?” And if they don’t withdraw their support for Perry, they’ll be asked, “Why are you still backing a dishonest enabler of child sexual abuse?”

    • Payne’s perennial red opposite number, agrees:

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      p>

      When Romney endorsed Perry, surely he was ignorant of the candidate’s past. But now? The media have been reporting on these scandals for months.

      Romney has down-sized companies, but he should not down-size his conscience. He should have the same ethical standard in judging Republicans that he has for Democrats. Otherwise, he will not have as much credibility in criticizing Democratic scandals or in claiming to be a good executive who knows how to vet prospective appointees.

  5. Years ago I had jury duty in a criminal case that I really did not want to sit on.

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    p>The charges were, as I recall, rape, assault, and battery. Guilty on all counts.

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    p>I do not see why Mr. Perry is not facing indictment for accessory to all three of those crimes. Is he, and the raping officer, really off the hook?

  6. …from last May.

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    p>The Cape Cod Times ran this story  http://www.capecodonline.com/a… then.

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    p>The ads commingle the facts on the two incidents – the lurid description of actions fit the incident with Adams rather that Allen – for example, it was the Adams home that Perry went to on New Year’s Eve, not the Allen home.  The incident with Flanagan and Lisa Allen had happened some 18 monther earlier, although no complaint was made until the incident with Adams.  

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    p>The Adams family is largely ignored, as the family refuses to bash Perry.  The story details are merely mentioned in conjunction with Lisa Allen instead.

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