Brockton Mayor Moises Rodrigues was explicitly told by Brockton Public Schools to stay away from the high school’s recent graduation ceremony in order to avoid interacting with a student who had accused him of wrongdoing.
The order came to light in a Wednesday Facebook Live video from a former Brockton resident, Tonya Pickett, who said she had spoken with the teen and her family. She said Rodrigues and the family received a letter dated May 26 — more than a week before the Brockton High School graduation — that named both the mayor and his accuser.
“I saw this with my own eyes,” Pickett said in the broadcast. “I saw a letter with not only the minor’s name on it, the parents’ name on it, but the mayor’s name himself on it, from Brockton Public School superintendent’s office. [The letter came from] the assistant superintendent, James LaBillois.”
LaBillois, who is Brockton Public Schools’ assistant superintendent of unified services, is also the district’s equity, civil rights and harassment, and sexual harassment officer.
Pickett then posted an excerpt of the letter to her Facebook page. It says, among other things, that “[t]he complainant and the respondent shall have no contact during the pendency of the investigation. Also, the Respondent should all not enter [sic] Brockton High School during the academic day, nor should the Respondent participate in any school-related activity involving the band nor any senior activities or events (e.g., graduation) at which the Complainant will be in attendance.”
Pickett told GBH News she met with the family for several hours and posted the livestream and letter excerpt “with the permission of the family after leaving the family’s home.” She declined further comment.
GBH News has independently confirmed the letter’s existence and that it included that excerpt. It’s not clear what authority the district has to bar the mayor from school activities. The mayor’s office declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation.
In a statement, Brockton Public Schools said it has hired a third-party investigator and is fully cooperating with the investigative process.
“In situations with similar fact allegations,” the statement added, “the district will often impose a safety plan that may include directives to limit or eliminate contact between the parties for the duration of the investigation.”
Questions about Rodrigues’ conduct emerged after a woman interrupted Brockton High’s graduation ceremony as Rodrigues was speaking last Saturday. She approached the stage, yelling, “You have to [expletive] get out of here. You know what you did to my daughter. You know what you did to my daughter. You have to [expletive] get out of here.”
Two days later, a local judge issued a temporary harassment prevention order that requires Rodrigues to stay at least 100 yards away from a Brockton minor, according to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s office. Further details about the order and Rodrigues’ alleged wrongdoing were not available because it involves a minor.
A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office said Tuesday that State Police assigned to that office are investigating a complaint against Rodrigues that a student and her parents made to Brockton Public Schools.
In a Monday interview with The Brockton Enterprise before the harassment prevention order was served, Rodrigues suggested the woman who shouted at him during the graduation was angry about an alleged incident during an annual parade on May 22.
Rodrigues also described his accuser as “supposedly” a graduating senior, but said that as of that interview he didn’t know her identity or her family’s.
“If you ask me to name the student, I have no idea who the student is, Rodrigues told the Enterprise. “If you want me to point the finger and say who the student was, I still have no idea. I have absolutely, positively, no clue as to who this family is.”
The letter excerpt originally published by Pickett casts doubt upon that claim.
In that same Enterprise interview, Rodrigues said his accuser’s family had “asked for me not to go” to the graduation, but that he had an obligation to other students to attend.
“Again, not knowing what exactly took place, I owed it to the rest of the students to be there,” he said, “because it’s customary for the mayor to come, because you’re part of the agenda, you’re the chair of the school committee.” In Brockton, the mayor assumes that role automatically.
Rodrigues also said he chose not to hand out diplomas to avoid inadvertent contact with the student.
Another hearing on the harassment prevention order, where a judge will decide whether to extend or terminate it, will take place June 22 in Hingham District Court, according to a Brockton court clerk.
