‘Sickening and disgusting': School resource officer resigns amid questions of grooming

Questions have swirled over the town of Newbury, Massachusetts, since rumors began circulating last spring about the bond between a police officer and a teenager.

Nearly a year later, the town's police department and school district only recently notified parents of a situation that resulted in the resignation of John Lucey III, the longtime school resource officer at Triton Regional High School.

Lucey had been the school district's resource officer since 2011, so when the 2024-2025 school year began, parents were surprised to see he was not walking the halls.

"I was told that Newbury police are investigating it. They can't comment," said a Triton Regional High School parent who agreed to speak with the NBC10 Boston Investigators on the condition of anonymity.

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The parent said months passed without any answers.

"It's dragging on and on, and no information from the school district or the police department," they said.

Lucey had been on paid administrative leave since May.

The decision to pull him from the school was made by Newbury Police Chief Patricia Fisher after she said the 36-year-old officer informed her that he began dating a former Triton Regional High School student within a month of her graduation and 18th birthday in 2023.

By the time he disclosed the relationship, they had been dating for nearly 10 months.

Fisher notified the district superintendent, Brian Forget, and immediately brought in an outside attorney to conduct an investigation.

The NBC10 Boston Investigators obtained multiple documents from the internal investigation and police department. They show that on May 7, 2024, Lucey told the chief he met the girl in the summer of 2023, when they both participated in an alumni theatre production of "Legally Blonde."

During that same conversation, Lucey reportedly revealed a deeper history, and told Fisher the pair had known each other since she was a student at Triton Regional High School, where Lucey was the SRO.

Lucey would eventually tell the independent investigator that he met the girl when she was in eighth grade at Triton Middle School. At the time, he was co-directing a school play the girl was participating in.

According to the documents, Lucey told the investigator he became "close to the kids" during this time.

He described his relationship with them as being "part of like a secret club."
Lucey also told the investigator he interacted with the girl outside of school, connecting with her via Facebook while she was in the eighth grade.

As the girl entered high school, the investigation revealed their interactions grew more frequent. Documents show the girl sought Lucey's counsel on a number of occasions.

A search of Lucey's school email account uncovered multiple emails between him and the girl's mother going back to her freshman year.

The investigation also discovered text messages between Lucey and multiple Triton students, including the girl.

The investigator said those texts show Lucey actively sought to hang out with multiple high school girls off school grounds.

According to the investigation, Lucey said the girl was "just another student" and he had no romantic, personal, friendship or other type of relationship with her while she was in school.

The investigation found insufficient credible evidence to conclude things turned romantic — and possibly criminal while she was still a minor — but it concluded Lucey repeatedly lied about his relationship with the girl and failed to maintain professional boundaries with a student "he knew idolized him and was especially vulnerable … setting the stage for him to pursue a relationship with her shortly after she turned 18 and graduated."

Records show that two months after the pair began dating, Lucey's own colleagues began to question the relationship.

Two of his fellow officers said they saw the pair in public together with Lucey's children.

Fisher said she saw them together a few days later. Noting the girl's young appearance, she asked Lucey whether they were dating.

Lucey said no.

"When you start reading through all the reports, it just becomes sickening and disgusting," the parent said.

Ultimately, there were not sufficient grounds to sustain an allegation of grooming. The Essex County District Attorney's Office also reviewed the incident and found no laws were broken.

But the investigator concludes her report saying Lucey's actions "could more likely than not create the public perception that Lucey had somehow 'groomed' a troubled student and taken advantage of the trust he had built with her once she reached the age of consent and graduated."

Multiple attempts to reach Lucey for comment were unsuccessful.

A search of his computer revealed a draft memo he wrote, but never sent, before he disclosed the relationship to Fisher defending his actions.

"I have served the Triton community for 12-and-a-half years with honor, integrity, and respect. And I plan to continue to serve that way for years to come. I am proud of the work I've done and the reputation I maintain. And I refuse to allow misrepresentation of my personal life sully that reputation I have built," Lucey wrote. "However, I understand that perception is reality and that rumors and gossip often win the day. I understand that although I have been, to the absolute best of my ability, truthful and transparent in the writing of this letter, you must rely on your faith in my character to accept it. I also understand that those who choose to speak negatively of me – the cynics and rumor-mongers – will never accept the truths outlined in this letter. So, with that, I accept that – perhaps I am no longer a suitable candidate for the SRO position. I am qualified for the position, I excel at the position, and I have deep passion for the position. Ultimately, all of that only matters if I am accepted for the position."

Lucey told the investigator he understood why some people would view the relationship as problematic — not only due to the circumstances surrounding it, but also because he had done this before.

Documents from the police department show that Lucey began dating his now ex-wife and mother of his children shortly after she graduated from Triton Regional High School in 2012.

Lucey initially paused the relationship at the behest of his father, former Newbury Police Chief John Lucey, but the two rekindled things a year later.

They would eventually marry and have two children before they separated, right around the time he began dating the 2023 graduate.

Lucey remained intent on continuing the relationship after disclosing it to Fisher.

According to the documents, he told the investigator, "All I can say is, 'It's not up to me how this is pushed out, perceived or put on display.' I've tried to keep my personal life personal but apparently that’s not where I'm at right now."

Lucey resigned from the Newbury Police Department on Oct. 8, 2024, before the Newbury Select Board could decide whether to fire him.

Four months later, the community is just now coming to grips with the full scope of the situation, and many parents have taken to social media to express outrage over how the school district and police department have handled the situation. Some of them have posted comments saying they were always suspicious of Lucey.

"Why not turn it over to the state police and let them take over?" the concerned parent said. "There's allegations she thinks he may have been grooming."

Neither the school district nor police department would agree to sit for an on-camera interview.

The police department only acknowledged the gravity of the situation when the NBC10 Boston Investigators began asking questions in January.

In a statement written in response to our open records request, Fisher said, "Public trust and honesty are, and have always been, core values of the Newbury Police Department. I hope the Department's swift actions in addressing these concerns and our decision to assign an independent investigator, demonstrate to the community our adherence to these values."

Despite writing a letter to Fisher in September of 2024, supporting her decision to pull Lucey from the school, Forget — who's been with the district since Lucey has been the SRO — only issued his first public statement on Feb. 7.

Read Forget's letter to Fisher:

Read the Triton Regional School District's public statement:

In the statement, he said, "I am unwavering in my commitment to ensure that all stakeholders welcomed into our schools adhere to our expectation that we prioritize the physical and social-emotional well-being of our students and staff, and that we do so in a manner that supports public trust."

For some parents, that trust has been broken.

"People that are supposed to protect our children … are just pushing it under the rug and hiding it, in my opinion, from the public," the parent said.

Fisher said the department is changing its procedures for selecting and monitoring officers assigned to schools.

The POST Commission has yet to make its determination on whether to decertify Lucey as a police officer.

Read the Newbury Police Department's report to the POST Commission:

Read the report from the independent investigation: