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‘Turtleboy’ blogger Aidan Kearney charged with witness intimidation in connection with Karen Read case
Kearney has generated controversy in recent months while blogging prolifically about the murder case against Read.
Aidan Kearney, the Holden man behind the controversial “Turtleboy” news blog, appeared in court Wednesday as he faces witness intimidation and conspiracy charges tied to his coverage of the sensational murder case against Karen Read.
Judge Daniel O’Malley released Kearney on personal recognizance following his arraignment in Stoughton District Court and ordered him to stay away from the individuals he’s accused of targeting, including a Massachusetts State Police investigator who worked on the case against Read.
Kearney pleaded not guilty to one conspiracy charge and multiple counts of witness intimidation and picketing a court, judge, juror, witness, or court officer.
Arraignment livestream via Boston 25 News.
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The charges came after Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey appointed a special prosecutor, Fall River attorney Ken Mello, to “look into the accusations of witness intimidation and other actions” by Kearney, a spokesperson for the DA’s office said.
The blogger has generated controversy in recent months while writing prolifically about the pending case against Read, a Mansfield woman accused of backing her car into her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, last year.
More on the Karen Read case:
Prosecutors allege that Read struck and killed O’Keefe while dropping him off at a fellow Boston police officer’s home in Canton following a night of drinking in January 2022. Read’s lawyers, however, argue that she is being framed and that fellow afterparty guests are really to blame — a theory the prosecution has repeatedly denied.
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Read has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence, and leaving the scene of a collision causing injury and death. Her trial is tentatively set for March 12, 2024.
Meanwhile, the case has sparked fervent speculation at the local level, fueled in large part by Turtleboy, which had published 179 entries on Read’s case as of Wednesday afternoon.
Kearney, who wore a “Free Karen Read” sweatshirt during his arraignment, has attended several of the pre-trial hearings in Read’s case. He’s also promoted the theory that Read is being framed, led demonstrations outside the courthouse, and filmed his confrontations with law enforcement officials and witnesses in the case.
In August, Morrissey issued a rare video statement condemning the “baseless” harassment of witnesses in Read’s case, though he did not mention Kearney or Turtleboy by name.
“We try people in the court and not on the internet for a reason,” Morrissey said in the video. “The internet has no rules of evidence. The internet has no punishment for perjury. And the internet does not know all the facts.”
Mello, the special prosecutor, faced interruptions from members of the audience — including a cry of “bulls***!” — as he spoke in court Wednesday.
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He accused Kearney of harassing witnesses who were at the home where O’Keefe’s body was found, including several members of homeowner Brian Albert’s extended family. Mello said Kearney also targeted state Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator on the case, and Proctor’s wife.
The special prosecutor alleged that Kearney has shown up and “made scenes” at sporting events where witnesses’ children were playing; visited witnesses’ homes; and broadcast Proctor’s phone number to his Turtleboy followers, resulting in harassing text messages and voicemails.
In one notable instance, the blogger is accused of conspiring with a local police dispatcher to check the registered owners of vehicles that were parked outside the Proctors’ home. The dispatcher “unlawfully and illegally accessed the Registry of Motor Vehicles database to provide [Kearney] with information he was not entitled to,” Mello said.
Later on Wednesday, the Avon Police Department announced that it had placed a dispatcher on paid administrative leave “pending an internal investigation and pending the outcome of an investigation being conducted by a special prosecutor under the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office into alleged inappropriate and illegal use of law enforcement databases, which dispatchers have access to.”
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It was not immediately clear whether the announcement was related to Kearney’s charges.
Mello also read aloud a number of Turtleboy excerpts where Kearney appeared to taunt witnesses in Read’s case.
“You guys should just stop going out in public,” Kearney warned in one post, according to Mello. “It’s only going to get worse from here.”
Yet Sean Joseph Reynolds, an attorney for Kearney, asserted that the statements Mello plucked from Turtleboy blogs were Kearney’s opinions, not threats.
“My client states that he is a news person who is using his First Amendment rights to cover a story,” Reynolds said. “He vehemently denies that he’s intimidating or harassing anyone.”
Mello sought $1,000 cash bail, GPS monitoring, and orders for Kearney to stay away from and have no contact with the witnesses he allegedly harassed. Mello also asked that Kearney “through his blogs and internet use not encourage … any of his blog followers to call or visit or otherwise intimidate or harass witnesses.”
The judge ultimately deemed cash bail and GPS monitoring unnecessary, but ordered Kearney to steer clear of the named witnesses.
“That means direct or indirect [communication] — including but not limited to mail, email, text, telephone, social media, or any other mechanism, if you will,” the judge explained. Should Kearney violate those conditions of release, he is subject to incarceration for up to 90 days without bail.
Kearney is due back in court on Dec. 5.
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He proclaimed his innocence in a livestream on the Turtleboy Facebook page Wednesday night, asserting that the charges have only strengthened his resolve to uncover alleged corruption in Read’s case.
“I’m not the least bit deterred,” he said. “I’m not scared of you punks; you’re scared of me. Today was an act of desperation. … You’re scared. I’m not going to hurt you — I never said I was going to hurt you. But I am going to expose you. And I’m not going to stop.”
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