News

Salem officer testifies against Peabody lieutenant in exam-snooping case

By Stacie N. Galang
Staff writer
Published: March 12, 2008

PEABODY — Peabody police Lt. Edward Bettencourt's alleged unauthorized computer access stretched into another police department, according to testimony in Suffolk Superior Court yesterday.

Salem police Sgt. Kate Noftle Stephens took the stand yesterday in the case against Bettencourt, who is charged with 21 counts of unauthorized computer access. She testified that she did not create an account in her name on the Civil Service Web site that investigation showed had been opened from a computer at the Peabody police station.

The first of 11 witnesses yesterday, Stephens told Judge Margaret Hinkle that in mid-December 2004 as she drove through downtown Peabody, Bettencourt pulled her over for speeding. The two officers knew each other professionally and struck up a conversation about the civil service exams taken two months earlier, Stephens said.

"We just talked about how things were going, and the subject of the exams came up," Stephens said.

In Bettencourt's third day of trial in the Boston courtroom, prosecutors from the attorney general's office Ina Howard-Hogan and Kathleen Healey said the police lieutenant illegally accessed the civil service exam scores for 20 of his co-workers and Stephens during the midnight shift Dec. 25, 2004.

The prosecutors say Bettencourt's police credentials afforded him access to a restricted area of the Registry of Motor Vehicles database — available on a centrally located computer at the station — to obtain officers' dates of birth and Social Security numbers. Using those, they say he was able to create duplicate accounts on the civil service Web site from the watch commander's computer in an adjacent room and obtain the promotional exam scores to do his own ranking of the 21 officers.

If convicted, Bettencourt could face up to a $21,000 fine, two years in jail or both, and could also lose his pension from the city.

Stephens testified she opened two accounts on the civil service Web site from her home computer, creating a second when she forgot the first. However, a third account had been opened Dec. 25, 2004, from a computer at the Peabody police station, and Stephens said she did not create it.

Though Stephens said she may have interacted with Bettencourt on more than one occasion, none was after she had found out her civil service exam score or ranking.

Prosecutors were also able to establish in testimony from Peabody Patrolman Christopher Pierce and dispatcher Ryan Sauk that calling up proprietary information from the computer tied to the Registry of Motor Vehicles normally takes between 10 and 15 seconds.

It could be a crucial detail about how Bettencourt allegedly gained access on that computer quickly enough to evade notice from the others working the same midnight shift.

None of the witnesses thus far remember seeing Bettencourt accessing the computer linked to the Registry. The machine is located in the central dispatch center.

However, Louison tried to leave doubt about his client's role in the scheme by stressing again yesterday that any officer could easily use police computers under a co-worker's user ID.

"I've done reports under other officers' numbers accidentally," said Peabody Patrolman Gerald Fitzgerald.

Peabody police Sgt. Glen Fredericks spoke about his role as a system administrator for the station's computers. He testified that he and three other Peabody personnel — Lt. Martin Cohan, Officer Robert Faletra and payroll clerk Nancy Delaney — had access to police employee IDs and their passwords.

He said the data is kept in a secure part of the computer system, and he knew of no other printed hard copies.

Fredericks did say under questioning from Healey that no one had access to an employee's Windows passwords. If an employee forgot a password, only a system administrator could reset it. The employee would then have to enter a new password the next time they opened Windows.

Before the proceedings started, Louison tried a second time yesterday to have the case dismissed. He argued that Sgt. Michael Breen, a witness who testified Monday, had given false testimony to the grand jury and prosecutors never corrected it.

"I think it now further establishes the nature of the misinformation presented to the grand jury," Louison said. "It was something more than accidental."

Hinkle denied down the motion again.

Prosecutors also called Bettencourt's cousin, Sgt. Albert Lopes, Lt. John DeRosa, Lt. Scott Wlasuk, Sgt. Thomas O'Keefe, Sgt. Charles Randall, Lt. Dennis Bonaiuto and Sgt. William Cook.

Trial time line

Friday: Day 1

r Before Peabody police Lt. Edward Bettencourt's trial gets underway, his attorney Doug Louison tries a last-minute motion to dismiss the case. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Margaret Hinkle denies.

r Bettencourt waives his right to a jury trial.

r Bettencourt's case starts with opening arguments from Assistant Attorney General Kathleen Healey and Louison.

r Prosecutor Ina Howard Hogan calls Regina Caggiano, assistant director for the state's Human Resources Division, to testify about the agency's practices for civil service exams, its Web site and online security.

r Police Chief Robert Champagne testifies, but Louison runs out of time.

Monday: Day 2

r Louison continues his cross-examination of Champagne.

r 12 more witnesses testify.

Tuesday: Day 3

r Louison files another motion to dismiss. He argues Sgt. Michael Breen gave false testimony to the grand jury that contradicted his statements on Monday. Hinkle denies the motion.

r Eleven more witnesses testify.

Wednesday: Day 4

r Hinkle, the attorneys and the defendant are scheduled to tour the Peabody Police Department.

r More witnesses to be called, including forensic experts.