A former Buxton police officer has been accused of using a government database to track down his ex-girlfriend and her partner, according to court records.
Andrew Ward has pleaded not guilty to four misdemeanor charges, including one count of stalking and one count of domestic violence stalking, because his alleged conduct involved a prior partner.
Ward’s other two charges are tied to his position as a police officer. One alleges Ward violated a Maine law that bars public employees from knowingly using government resources in unauthorized ways, and the other alleges he committed criminal invasion of computer privacy.
Prosecutors say Ward searched repeatedly for the addresses of both his ex and her new partner using a Bureau of Motor Vehicles database that only certain government employees have access to. They also accuse Ward of having a police officer from a different town check on the couple’s home.
The woman’s new partner complained about Ward to Buxton police in September 2024, after receiving an anonymous letter at his workplace that he believed was from Ward. The complaint led to an internal investigation, which Chief Kevin Collins said his staff was unable to finish after Ward resigned in October.
Ward’s attorney, Michael Cunniff, said that his client was not available to comment on the allegations. Ward is scheduled for a bench trial in York County Superior Court this summer.
“I will litigate the case in the court room, not the press room,” Cunniff said.
In court records, Cunniff argued that Ward’s alleged conduct should not be considered stalking.
Ward has not been accused in this case of physical abuse. Instead, Cunniff argued, “the state principally contends that he annoyed [his ex] with repeated and purportedly unwanted communications or attempts to communicate with her.”
Cunniff added that Ward’s ex also had initiated contact with him.
Cunniff asked a judge to dismiss the charges related to Ward’s alleged use of the BMV database, arguing that any information Ward obtained can be found elsewhere on the internet.
A York County District Court judge declined to dismiss any of Ward’s charges during a brief hearing on March 10.
Prosecutor Paul Cavanaugh disagreed with Cunniff’s characterization of the database Ward had access to, arguing in court records that the system reminds researchers that the results are “provided for criminal justice purposes only.”
“Tracking down an ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend is not a criminal justice purpose,” Cavanaugh wrote. Cavanaugh serves as a statewide assistant district attorney, focusing on domestic violence and sexual assault cases.
“If people know that law enforcement can use their secure computer system to find them and then use other officers to monitor them without such conduct being criminal, they would be justifiably scared and angry,” Cavanaugh wrote.
This story was originally published by the Maine Trust for Local News. Emily Allen can be reached at eallen@pressherald.com.