New Hampshire police chief found guilty of oppression charge for sexually harassing female officer

A New Hampshire police chief has been found guilty of official oppression for sexually harassing a subordinate female officer.

After a two-day bench trial in March and April, a 9th Circuit court found that 43-year-old Litchfield Police Chief Benjamin Sargent violated the law by “sexually harassing a subordinate in violation of official policy,” the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office said in a news release Thursday.

Official oppression is when a public servant, “with a purpose to benefit himself or another or to harm another, knowingly commits an unauthorized act which purports to be an act of his office.” It is a class B misdemeanor.

Court documents previously obtained by The Boston Globe said that, in one instance, Sargent harassed his subordinate by telling her that he had a crush on her. News Center Maine reported that he was drunk at a New Year’s Eve party when this happened.

In another instance, Sargent asked the officer to come to his home after she finished responding to a call and told her to bring wine, the documents said.

Sargent didn’t deny inviting the officer to his house and telling her to bring wine, nor did he deny making “knowing and purposeful comments” to the officer, but he pushed back against the idea that any of these actions were romantic in nature, according to the court documents.

Sargent went on leave in January and was replaced by an acting chief. The New Hampshire Police Standards and Training Council will hold a hearing to decide whether he will keep his position as Litchfield police chief, WMUR reported.

The circuit court sentenced Sargent to the maximum fine of $1,200 and added a $288 penalty assessment, the DA’s office said.

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