WESTBROOK – The lawyer for Suzanne Joyce, 51, a Westbrook School Committee member charged with threatening a school employee, offered the results of a polygraph test during a dispositional conference last week at Cumberland County Unified Criminal Court in Portland.
The Aug. 8 hearing was held with Judge Michael Broderick to review the information in her case.
Joyce is charged with hindering an investigation into a former Westbrook teacher’s relationship with a student. She is accused of threatening another school employee, Andrew Keirstead, not to discuss a relationship between Dereck Gilman, 24, a former Westbrook Middle School employee, and a 17-year-old student.
The grand jury indictment against Joyce alleges she “used force or intimidation” against a school employee, Keirstead, to prevent him from informing officials about the suspected activities of Gilman. Keirstead is an educational technician and baseball coach in the district.
According to Joyce’s lawyer, Bill Childs of Portland’s Childs, Rundlett, Fifield, Shumway & Altschuler, Joyce submitted to a polygraph examination last week, which shows she did not threaten Kierstead.
According to the polygraph report provided by Childs, Joyce said that Keirstead was a family friend whom she called after hearing a rumor that a police officer had been drinking at a local restaurant discussing a criminal investigation involving a school department employee. The report said that Joyce had no idea at that time that Keirstead was a witness in or that he had been the catalyst for the investigation. Joyce asked Keirstead not to gossip about the rumor, but did not say anything threatening.
Joyce has not spoken publicly about the case.
Childs has also requested a motion to seal, which means the court documents could no longer be viewed for the public. According to the motion by Childs, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Ackerman had no objections.
Joyce stood outside the courtroom on Aug. 8 but did not appear inside the court. Childs previously entered a plea of not guilty on behalf of Joyce.
Gilman, 24, a former Westbrook Middle School special education educational technician, has been charged with unlawful sexual touching and sexual abuse of a minor. The charges stemmed from a seven-month investigation from May 2012 to January 2013.
He resigned from the school on April 1, months after the investigation into his alleged behavior ended.
Gilman also did not appear inside the courtroom last week.
All the charges are class E misdemeanors.
Joyce and Gilman’s next court appearance is on Aug. 20 for a motion hearing at Cumberland County Unified Criminal Court in Portland. After the motion hearing, the next step would be for jury selection.
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