A Massachusetts state trooper finds himself suspended following allegations of domestic violence. Michael Gagnon has been charged with assault after reportedly striking his son in the face.
The Plympton Police Department announced Gagnon’s arrest on November 25. He faces charges of domestic assault and battery as well as aggravated assault on a child under the age of 14. He was released after posting a $1,000 bond shortly after his arrest.
Though the incident allegedly occurred in late August, it wasn’t reported to the Department of Children and Families until November 24. According to a report from WCVB, the delay in reporting raises questions about the timing and circumstances surrounding the case.
Upon investigation, a caseworker learned from the victim that Gagnon had indeed punched him in the face. The police report further reveals that Gagnon instructed his children to attribute the injury to an accidental strike from a whiffle ball bat, in an apparent attempt to cover up the assault.
At that time, the victim told a caseworker that Gagnon punched him in the face, according to a police report.
“The children were then advised by Michael Gagnon to say that a whiffle ball bat was the cause of the mark and that it was accidental,” the report states.
The report said that the incident took place while the victim — Gagnon’s son — was visiting his father, who is going through a divorce with the child’s mother.
The mother told investigators that the boy threw “tantrums” whenever he was to visit his father, and after a doctors suggested a therapist, the boy told the therapist what happened, Boston25 reported.
Gagnon was suspended by the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission on Tuesday, WCVB reported.
His next court date is January 12.
