GLOUCESTER – Chief Edward Conley reports that the Gloucester Police Department and law enforcement partners have concluded an investigation into a late August assault that left a Gloucester juvenile injured.
The Gloucester Police Department has filed applications for criminal complaints in Gloucester Juvenile Court, seeking assault and battery charges against three juvenile males. The juveniles, two of whom are 17 and one of whom is 16, will now face a Clerk Magistrate hearing, where a Clerk Magistrate will determine whether there is probable cause for the charges to move forward.
The charging decision follows a thorough, months-long investigation conducted by Gloucester Police detectives in collaboration with the Essex County District Attorney’s Office and Massachusetts State Police.
Gloucester Police were called to the woods in the area of Dogtown Road on Aug. 30 and began investigating an assault during a party in the woods. One juvenile male was taken to a local hospital for treatment of his injuries.
Through an initial investigation, police determined that all parties involved knew one another.
Due to allegations that this may have been a hate crime, Gloucester Police assigned a specially trained hate crime investigator to the case, and also consulted with Essex DA’s Office and a specially trained State Police detective who investigates hate crimes as part of the Governor’s Hate Crimes Awareness and Response Team. Evidence gathered as part of the investigation did not ultimately support hate crime charges.
“Our department conducted a meticulous, thorough, and compassionate investigation, and the resulting charges are consistent with the evidence,” Chief Conley said. “Our thoughts remain with the victim, who suffered significant injuries in this attack.
