Former Hopkinton deputy police chief indicted on child rape charges

Former Hopkinton Deputy Police Chief John “Jay” Porter has been indicted on three charges of child rape, the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office said Monday. 

Porter, 54, is accused of assaulting a student while he was assigned as a school resource officer in Hopkinton’s schools, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said in a press release.

The alleged incidents occurred in 2004 and 2005, when the victim was 15 years old, according to the DA’s office. 

“During that time the defendant allegedly assaulted the victim on multiple occasions off school property,” Ryan said in the release. It was not immediately clear whether Porter had retained an attorney. 

The Hopkinton Police Department placed Porter on administrative leave in August 2022, pending an investigation. At the time, the town did not specify what the investigation entailed. 

Just a month earlier, Hopkinton honored Porter for his 30th anniversary with the police department. Porter rose through the ranks after joining the Hopkinton Police Department in 1992, serving as the department’s first school resource officer, a press release noted at the time of his anniversary. 

“[Porter] has shown a true commitment to bettering this department and serving the Hopkinton community, and we are fortunate to have him as a member of the Hopkinton Police command staff,” Hopkinton Police Chief Joseph Bennett said at the time.

In a joint statement Monday afternoon, Bennett and Hopkinton Town Manager Norman Khumalo said they are “deeply disturbed and troubled by these accusations. These alleged crimes have no place in our community or anywhere else, and we extend our sympathies to the victim.”

According to the DA’s office, Porter is no longer with the Hopkinton Police Department as of April 28 — the day a Middlesex Grand Jury returned the indictment against him, court records show. Khumalo and Bennett said Porter notified Hopkinton Friday that he sought to retire, and the town accepted his “immediate separation from employment.”

His arraignment has not yet been scheduled, the DA’s office said.

Abby Patkin

Staff Writer

Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between.

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