AUGUSTA, Maine — A state panel agreed Monday that a Windham police officer was subjected to sexual harassment by a fellow officer and was retaliated against when she reported it. The ongoing retaliation by her co-workers could threaten her life, according to the female officer’s attorney.

Danielle Cyr of Auburn still works at the Windham Police Department, where she said a male co-worker touched her, urinated in front of her, yelled at her in front of civilians, said grotesque things around her and more.

“[The male officer] started giving [Cyr] the silent treatment and purposely put her in danger on duty by not properly assisting her in the field. He also called her an ‘[expletive]’ and told her she should quit if she could not handle the job,” according to the Maine Human Rights Commission’s investigator’s report.

According to an independent investigation done for the town of Windham, the problems went beyond the harassment Cyr suffered.

“Most people who were interviewed stated that foul language, conversations which included sexual connotations and innuendo, bag-tagging [slapping another’s scrotum] and good-gaming [slapping another’s rear end] were the norm for the entire department,” states the independent report, cited in the commission’s own findings. “This activity went on in front of [supervisors] without correction. Supervision, at times, engaged in the same conduct.”

The officer who had been harassing Cyr since March 2009 was fired in October that year.

But Cyr also claimed that other members of the police department have been retaliating against her since she reported the sexual harassment.

“Her fellow officers treated her differently and started to question her decisions at work. They gave her the silent treatment and shunned her at work and in the community,” the MHRC investigator’s report states.

A sergeant at the department also “constantly peppered her with questions about her complaints and intent to sue the town,” according to the report.

When Cyr would walk into meetings, the room would clear out, according to her attorney, Rebecca Webber. Sometimes when she was on a police call, her supervisor wouldn’t talk to her, Webber said Monday at the commission meeting. This is ongoing, Webber said.

“Danielle’s life depends on her not being alone. Danielle’s life depends on other people being willing to risk their lives to make sure she is not on her own,” Webber said.

The Human Rights Commission investigator recommended that the commission find that there was discrimination due to sexual harassment.

“The town didn’t file any objection to that part of the report,” the town’s attorney, Patricia Dunn told the commission Monday.

The commission members voted unanimously that the town did discriminate against Cyr.

The town, however, denied that Cyr is experiencing retaliation. According to Dunn, the town did the right thing by firing an employee who harassed her and encouraged Cyr to return to work after she took a medical leave.
Cyr did return to work recently, Dunn said.

“We don’t believe there is any basis to believe there was shunning. We don’t feel it’s the case,” Dunn said.

Despite the commission’s investigator’s finding that the town did not retaliate against Cyr, the Maine Human Rights Commission voted 4-1 that the town did retaliate.

In such cases, both parties are encouraged to reconcile and reach a settlement. If conciliation fails, the complainant may file a civil lawsuit in Maine Superior Court, where a binding settlement can include monetary damages.

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83 Comments

  1. This is a formal request being made to BDN asking them to stop posting stories that
    co-enable my addiction to creating a volunteer civilian police review board with subpoena powers.
    This story reminds me of the case of FBI agent Suzanne Doucette who we brought to speak in Maine during the mid 1990’s.
    She was sexually assaulted by her FBI supervisor in the Tuscon FBI office. When she told his boss at the FBI he did nothing. see http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20106631,00.html
    Doucette eventually collapsed from bleeding ulcers after her FBI office workers shunned her.
    Her husband was a FBI agent who committed suicide several years after Suzanne won her lawsuit against the FBI paid for of course by taxpayers. The FBI agent Supervisor who assaulted her was never disciplined.
    When the civilians get ready to exert control over their Military driven criminal justice system let me know. LOL
    Anybody see the moonbats Cain and Haskell of the Legislative Criminal Justice committee?
    Until then assume the position eh?
    two stories

    see link for full story
    http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/01/27/siu.fbi.internal.documents/index.html
    CNN exclusive: FBI misconduct reveals sex, lies and videotape

    By Scott Zamost and Kyra Phillips, CNN Special Investigations Unit
    January 27, 2011

    Washington (CNN) — An FBI employee shared confidential information with his girlfriend, who was a news reporter, then later threatened to release a sex tape the two had made.

    A supervisor watched pornographic videos in his office during work hours while “satisfying himself.”

    And an employee in a “leadership position” misused a government database to check on two friends who were exotic dancers and allowed them into an FBI office after hours.

    These are among confidential summaries of FBI disciplinary reports obtained by CNN, which describe misconduct by agency supervisors, agents and other employees over the last three years.

    Read the FBI documents obtained by CNN

    March 3, 2012
    ANCHORAGE, Alaska—New
    court filings show that Anchorage police had for years investigated
    reports of on-duty sexual activity by an officer who was eventually
    convicted of sexually assaulting several women while on duty.

    The reports from police records were filed Friday in the lawsuits of women
    suing Anthony Rollins and the city, the Anchorage Daily News (http://bit.ly/y8cGKC) reported.
    The lawsuits say Rollins’ employers should have known he posed a threat to women after catching him having sex while on duty.

    Rollins was convicted last year. He was suspended and then fired after a woman
    reported in 2009 that he forced her to perform oral sex during a drunken
    driving arrest.

    1. please stop your ranting post. We are all getting sick of it. If you want to make positive change, run for office with in the state of Maine and forge forward that way. These post that you go on about just makes you seem crazy….

      1.  thanks for the compliment Boy. If you say so it must be true,eh? LOL
        I need your help Boy . Can you tell me how the child died after he brought pedophile charges against FBI  agent Hutton?
        Prosecutors move to dismiss charges against former Scout leader

        January 3, 2007

        NEW HAVEN, Conn. –Federal prosecutors have moved to dismiss charges against a retired FBI agent who was indicted on child sex charges dating back more than a decade when he was a Boy Scout leader, in response to the death of his accuser.

        William Hutton, 63, of Killingworth, was arrested in February on charges he enticed a member of his Scout troop to Maine for the purpose of sexual activity in 1994 and 1995.

        FBI Agent Pleads Guilty to Child Abuse

        Tuesday February 17, 2004

        By JOHN SOLOMON

        Associated Press Writer
        https://antipolygraph.org/cgi-bin/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1077052156
        WASHINGTON (AP) – The former chief internal watchdog at the FBI has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 6-year-old girl and has admitted he had a history of molesting other children before he joined the bureau for what became a two-decade career.

        John H. Conditt Jr., 53, who retired in 2001, was sentenced last week to 12 years in prison in Tarrant County court in Fort Worth, Texas, after he admitted he molested the daughter of two FBI agents after he retired. He acknowledged molesting at least two other girls before he began his law enforcement career, his lawyer said.

        Monday August 8, 2005 Longtime FBI agent sentenced to prison on child porn count
        http://www.fbi.gov/kansascity/press-releases/2010/kc033110.htm
        also see http://www.policeone.com/news/113935-Longtime-Idaho-FBI-Agent-Sentenced-for-Possessing-Child-Porn/
        By JOHN MILLER

        BOISE, Idaho (AP) A longtime FBI agent who helped arrest mountain-man Claude Dallas and was involved in a deadly 1984 siege involving white supremacists in Washington state is going to prison for 12 months after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography.

        William Buie, 64, of Boise, most recently worked as an investigator for the Idaho attorney general’s office.

        February 22, 2007
        http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/022007/02232007/262383
        SPOTSYLVANIA, Va. A  F.B.I. analyst has been sentenced to seven years in prison for having sex with a young girl in Spotsylvania County.
        Forty-four-year-old Anthony John Lesko entered an Alford plea yesterday in Spotsylvania County Circuit Court to nine counts of felony indecent liberties upon a child. An Alford plea means Lesko doesn’t admit guilt but believes there is enough evidence for a conviction.
        Authorities say Lesko engaged in a sex act with her nine times, beginning when she was nine years old.
        According to the plea, Lesko said he was a victim in the case. He said the girl initiated the contact.

        FBI Agent Accused Of Masturbating In Public
        http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2010/12/ex-fbi_agent_sentenced_to_pris.html
        May 25, 2007 09:02 PM
        FBI Agent Accused Of Masturbating In Public

        Posted by, Marissa Pasquet KOLD News 13 News Editor

        FBI Special Agent Ryan Seese, 34, is facing sex offense charges after a cleaning woman said she found him masturbating in a women’s lavatory on campus, according to a University of Arizona police spokesman.

        FBI agent arrested on child sexual assault charge

        Associated Press – January 15, 2008 6:14 PM ET
        http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_7978377
        PUEBLO, Colo. (AP) – An FBI agent is under arrest in Pueblo for investigation of sexual assault on a child by someone in a position of trust.

        Authorities say 53-year-old David Allan Johnson is being held in the Pueblo County jail today on a $100,000 bail.

        Former Great Falls FBI  agent sentenced on child sex charges

        Jan 23, 2008

        A man from Great Falls who’s accused of sexually assaulting five underage girls will be spending the next 10 years behind bars.

        Stanley Perkins, 64, changed his plea to guilty after police began investigating him for child molestation in August 2006.

        The former educator, who also served two years as an FBI agent, was sentenced on one count of felony sexual assault.

        see link for full story
        http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/paul-duggan/46-months-in-prison-for-former.html
        Jail for former FBI worker from Va.
        Washington Post Editors

        A 65-year-old former FBI employee from Prince William County was sentenced to nearly four years in prison Friday for possessing child pornography.

        Samuel I. Kaplan, of Gainesville, who pleaded guilty June 2 in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, was sentenced to 46 months behind bars.

        Kaplan was an information technology program manager at an FBI facility in Chantilly when authorities discovered that he had used the FBI’s computer network to “facilitate sexually explict communications,” the Justice Department said.

        1.  Hear you D Man.
          If I was working in law enforcement I would be getting tired of someone pulling my covers, eh?

          1. Why is it that you condemn all law enforcement officers for
            the actions of the few? What about all the other “professions” that
            have people that are sex offenders? You have explained in the past why, but
            should we not condemn them all regardless of their profession?

      2. that poster is crazy because YOU have a hard time reading more than 7 syllables ???

        I think that the poster is doing OUR COUNTRY a valuable service by proposing exactly what needs to be done.
        The entire idea of “internal investigation” is just proof that power corrupts.

        learn to read and mentally digest more than what Bart Simpson can throw at you in a sound bite

  2. First things should happen. Settle with this fine officer with the amount that is reasonable. Second, FIRE the Police Chief, Supervisor(s) and rebuild where it can rebuild. Give this fine lady a promotion (assuming she has completed the full time academy). She stood up when others refused. She endured not only the embarassment within her own department but within the community she had to serve. And in this hard…very hard profession the mental side is at times just as hard.  Shame on ALL of you officers that stood by and allowed this to happen. I spent 30 + years in the military and dealt with you type of people swiftly and make no mistake others around knew not to screw around like this or with my repercussions. Best of luck young lady….carry on…  

          1.  I love it ” a hate on” gotta work with that line later on.
            Sounds so manly
            see you are still having problems identifying a smart consumer of the criminal justice system who will not tolerate perps with a badge raping and committing pedophilia while being funded by my tax dime?

            Ooops, this just in
            POLICE SEXUAL ABUSE OF TEENAGE GIRLS
            http://samuelwalker.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/dwf2003.pdf

      1. That is exactly the attitude that allows this sort of thing to continue.  If this officer was helping your “daughter, wife or sister” in a life threatening situation and got no response if she called for back-up, then you might care.

    1. you are assuming that there is not A LOT MORE to this story.
      I promise you, EVERY time a person sues for wrongful discharge or age discrimination, etc, there is always a TON more information that just does not hit the papers.

      How do you know that she was simply not the worst person in the whole world to deal with?

      Maybe the way she was treated was the best anyone could possibly have treated her?

      I have no idea what happened, but I can promise that there are 2 sides to this story.

      and if she does not like people using foul language, i gotta think that police officer is not her calling

      1. This wasn’t a wrongful discharge case.  This was a sexual harrassment and retaliation case.  The second paragraph starts out with “Danielle Cyr of Auburn still works at the Windham Police Department”. 

        1. I know, and I also know that there are no Martians involved.
          I was using an example.
          What hits the papers and what really happens are not usually very close.

      2.  All her fault eh? No facts.  Just quiet certitude on your part.  Its always the woman’s fault.

      3.  Oh Get Real!!! foul language is one thing, being disrespectful and a total pig is another…as a Police Officer you encounter all of the above from the public, but you still have to be professional  in this type of work..

      4.   Yeah lets give all the tu-ds the benifit of the doubt. No wonder we are so screwed up in this country.

      1. Heck I was so ticked when I read this that I might go to the academy and go apply to be Chief.

    1. seems to be… but you were not there, were you?
      you have no idea how things transpired, do you?

      that said… why on Gods’ green earth would a woman who cannot stand to hear vulgar words want a job in an old school boy’s club?

      1. Time to shut down the “old school boy’s club”. These people are paid by US (including women) to protect our towns, not to “bag tag” eachother.

      2. OF COURSE I wasn’t there! But I do have an IDEA what transpired!

        These jerks walked out on meetings and didn’t back her up out in the field, according to the story.That’s just a bit more than some scrotum slapping and bad language, doncha think?

        I used to (20 + years ago) hang out with a Boston Vice Squad Detective . We frequented a bar here called The Silver Shield, an after hours place where the cops and their select groupies hung out (on or off duty).  I saw plenty of the old boy’s club before in that place, and most of that attitude went into the dustbin of history along with the bar.  Someday these guys will be relegated there, too.

        Edit:3 words, by me.

      3. Possibly the language is a secondary issue. I think the real issue was feeling like she couldn’t get credence as a professional in that community. That and the feeling like other department members have your back are fundamental to police officers everywhere.

        I have worked now in two male dominated industries and never let myself feel uncomfortable or outnumbered. However, no one ever tried to touch inappropriately and I have to say, most of the men watched their language around me and other women. I think that was just their way of being respectful which is something that certainly should be happening in police stations everywhere, male and female.

      4. You right none of us were there, that said if men are so insecure that they have to act like bad children why are they in typically “men” jobs?I have seen this sort of thing too often in my 41 years of working.
         What if a man takes a clerk, receptionist or waitresss job, should woman talk about women issues, start slapping each other across the chest, feel up each others crotches, lift their skirts and urinate in front of him?
         Pretty sad thinking, sounds to me like the men are more concerned about looking manly in their “good ole boys club”and not doing their jobs or maybe they are jealous because she does a better job then they do?
        Women follow the rules better then men in my experience as an employee and employer.

      1. Get outa Maine and find out that that is not really true. Wrong or right, it still is part of LONG human underlayment of society  (soon+/-) to die out). Most of the non-isolatioists know that that really takes place in a society that isolates itself  (Me.?).

        Oh,and PLEASE stop your links. Most of us are irritated with them.  Short, to the point, and what you really mean, would be less condescending to most of us :)  Thanx

        And I’ll forever deride myself for ever getting involved with you, as well as rustyjan and pinetreesmeller.

        1. Gotcha. I will work hard tailoring my threads for you, LOL?
          For people who want to view a partial list of police arrested for rape and pedophilia over 1,000 pages long  go to the forums at http://www.copwatch.net  and scroll down to law enforcement sex offenders
          for people interested in taking back civilian control from the crime family known
          as the criminal justice system
          http://www.berkeleycopwatch.org/resources/Handbook_06.pdf
          http://www.berkeleycopwatch.org/

          1. Like I said : I’ll deride responding to you and your links. Everyone else does.

            Your ramblings are truly irritating: Witness your lack of replies and likes.

            Just go quietly into the dark night, huh??

          2.  if you say so it must be true, eh? LOL

            Add New Comment
            Logout msfreeh (edit profile) 1533 comments 1357 likes received

  3. Time to clean the stables and start fresh.  Its obvious this department as  now constituted is unworthy of the public trust. In the interim sue the pants off everybody in authority that has tolerated and is tolerating this apparently ongoing abuse.

    1. because of a single story in the BDN?

      I want you to look up the story about the 11 hockey players at UMaine and what was reported by the BDN, then I want you to look up the court records and testimony of what actually happened.

      MAYBE you will see a difference.
       the BDN gets advertisers based on circulation or clicks online… not based on truth

    2.  yea but when she does its the voters and taxpayers who pick up the tab.
      Fire the city manager and the word will get out to other cities and towns.
      Also strip police of their sovereign immunity allowing consumers to sue them directly and they will have to pay for the lawsuit out of their own pocket.

  4. If this conduct also occured in front of her supervisor then why is he still on the job?

    1. maybe because there is a lot more to this story?

      maybe she did all the same things that she is blaming others for?  maybe her mouth was even more foul than anyone else’s?
      just sayin’

      1. Well if that is the case, her Sergeant should have documented it and dealt with it swiftly. If he/she did nothing to stop it, the Sergeant is just as to blame. This can be said all the way up the chain through to the town manager.

    2.  The are still un-observable laws in Maine called the moonbat effect.
      This story is an active barometer of citizen disconnect between Windham voters and taxpayers
      their city manager, city council and the perps in this story.
      My choice of first to go would be the city manger.
      He is the ultimate perp.
      I bet if you were sitting on a volunteer civilian review police board
      with subpoena powers there would be some thinning of the herd at the Windham Police dept.

    1.  Windham is a cops town !  Embarrassment is non existent
      Any other town in Maine and the City Manager would be toast.
      This is where the Maine State Prison exists.

  5. I am so glad I don’t live in windham. I unconscionable that a “professional police department” act as if they are still in gramma school. All of these police officers are responsible to the public they serve.Gramma school grab ass,bullying and hijinx have no place for any reason where you public’s safety is paramount.Since the problem is a commonplace activity with all officers within the department, then it be fitting that the entire department be dismissed and new officers be hired.

    1.  I can tell you that it’s almost certainly not just this particular agency… it’s a deep cultural thing that recurs again and again in almost every type of “manly”/authoritarian/high-stress uniformed profession.

      1.  sweetheart, are you saying that 1/2 the population on the planet is female and we live in a patriachal society?

  6. I am in no way excusing it, but I became aware about 15 years ago or so that “grabass” type hazing out of public view was not an unknown occurrence in law enforcement agencies.  Certainly in southern Maine, but probably elsewhere.   It’s often inflicted on younger officers by older, or by veterans upon rookies.  I have even heard specifically of the scrotum-grabbing  attack described in the article, occurring within another police department in Cumberland County.  It’s sad that it still persists, but I’m not at all surprised by this type of story.

    1. maybe it is how they bond (both in friendship and sexually) and therefore KNOW that they can trust each other with their own lives.

      you suppose that is useful to cops on duty, to know that the others have your back?

  7. Sounds like a lack of proper leadership in this department, time for a change I would say.

  8. Here is the problem. If your going to be a LE  you can not let things like this bother you. This is what you get when STANDARDS are reduced to make all welcome. You used to have to be 6″ 220 and pass a physical to be a LE now every sex has a different standard. Make it a easy question. A BG ( bad guy for those not into this realm)  is after you it is a male 5’7 with a crow bar he is running behind you up ahead you see two LE’s in uniform on the corner. Do you want them to be 6 in shape 6’0 220 pound males OR a fat guy and a 5’3 female? If you answer honest then nobody will pick the fat guy and the female.

    1. If both the fat guy and the female have passed the academy and proved they can handle the job, then I don’t care. I know a LEO that is not very big at all, and does not appear to be in the best of shape. The academy is years behind him. I saw this officer sprint across a parking lot and take down a much younger and more fit looking suspect. He had that man in cuffs before the man even knew he was down. So I don’t what gender or what a LEO looks like, if he/she can get the job done.

    2.  My three backups are Smith, Wesson, and target practice. I think the fat guy and the woman could handle it.

  9. I hold the Police in higher standing then most.  If something happened here, then I would expect those involved to step forward and take their lumps.. a little sensitivitity training would be in order before returning to work.. Even the Police need a second chance..

  10. Hostile work environments are awful………………….I was in a situation that made my job very difficult to go to every day……………….I spoke up about certain things going on at my place of work every day………….others witnessed certain behaviors but did not come to my rescue.  Because of my whistle blowing, I dealt with retaliation on a daily basis………….I can relate to this officer and what she has been through………….I hope she gets a fair shake on this…………..

  11.   If true, Sue the bassturds. For they are not officers of the law, they are a bunch of Thugs in uniform. If they did this to her, what would/are they do(ing) to us? People like this think High school behaviour is ok (Though it’s not acceptible there either). But in reality they have no honor.

  12. Bag tagging and good gaming?  It sounds like some officers are still trying to get in touch with their sexuality; pervs.

  13. sure will be hard to get to the bottom of this one considering all the people involved are on the bottom they all lie so how will the truth come out when they all say I DO NOT RECALL  on the stand somehow i bet this girl will recall every detail unlike all the other cases that have trials that police are involved in. if this really happened well thats to bad.. but if you get involved with a pack of scumbags then you get what you get

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