Joyce case dismissed

WESTBROOK – The case against Westbrook School Committee member Suzanne Joyce, accused of hindering a police investigation, is over.

Dismissal papers were filed on Sept. 5 at the Cumberland County Unified Court with little explanation other than a one-line note at the end that read, “Witnesses have recanted,” submitted by Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Ackerman.

“I’m relieved. I don’t think anybody wins in any type of these situations,” Joyce said on Wednesday.

Joyce, 51, a longtime public figure in Westbrook, was indicted by a grand jury in May on a misdemeanor count of hindering the investigation into a former Westbrook teacher’s relationship with a student. At the end of August, Joyce’s lawyer, Bill Childs, submitted an affidavit signed by Andrew Keirstead, the main witness against Joyce, that said Suzanne Joyce “did not threaten, intimidate or deceive” him.

That piece of evidence, Childs said, showed there was no factual basis that Joyce committed any crime.

Childs also provided a polygraph test that Joyce took in early August that he said showed she did not threaten Keirstead.

Joyce was accused of threatening another school employee, Keirstead, not to discuss a relationship between Dereck Gilman, 25, a former Westbrook Middle School employee, and a 17-year-old student.

The grand jury indictment against Joyce alleged that 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.

“I was never afraid,” Joyce said Wednesday. “I was welcoming the truth to come out. I think the truth never came out but I was welcoming it. It’s very hard when you aren’t allowed to discuss a case.”

Gilman, whose trial was expected to start on Monday, pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual touching of a minor, a class E crime. Another charge of sexual abuse of a minor, also a class E crime, was dismissed in exchange for a charge of disorderly conduct. Gilman’s sentencing was deferred for one year and he must pay a fine of less than $500. As part of the deferred disposition, Gilman also cannot renew any teaching license certificates.

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