Brockton mayor charged with assault after student accused him of unwanted contact during parade

Brockton Mayor Moises Rodrigues has been charged with misdemeanor assault and battery after a local high school student accused him of touching her inappropriately during a parade in May. 

The allegation first came to light when the student’s mother confronted Rodrigues at the high school’s graduation ceremony in June, screaming, “You have to f—ing get out of here. You know what you did to my daughter!” 

Rodrigues is scheduled for arraignment on the assault charge Sept. 28 in Hingham District Court. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. 

Rodrigues was initially issued a harassment prevention order telling him to stay away from the teen, though a judge later declined to extend that order after finding that the alleged contact, though “unwelcome, offensive, and certainly unprofessional,” did not constitute a sex-related offense.

Testifying during a June hearing on the restraining order, Rodrigues reportedly said he “felt awful” after learning the girl was uncomfortable with their interaction. 

“As the father of three daughters, also being someone who always protected children, I don’t want anybody to feel uncomfortable for something I did,” he said at the time, The Boston Globe reported. 

According to a statement of facts filed in court, the father of the 17-year-old girl reported the incident to police shortly after Brockton’s Huntington Parade on May 22. The man alleged that Rodrigues approached his daughter, a member of the Brockton High School marching band, during the parade and “wrapped his arms all the way around her waist and was face-to-face with her,” the court filing states.

The girl later told police Rodrigues wrapped his left arm around her waist near her lower back, with his face close to her right ear and cheek, according to the court document. Rodrigues moved his hand to her shoulder as he began to pull away, she said. 

“During their interaction [the teen] stated that Rodrigues was humming the parade music. She added that Rodrigues was whispering into her ear saying, ‘play this again’ and ‘do this again for me,’” according to the statement of facts.

The teen said she was still playing her instrument and didn’t know how to react to the mayor’s contact, so she smiled awkwardly and leaned away, according to the court document. She said the incident with Rodrigues made her feel uncomfortable, and that she hid in a school bathroom after the parade because she feared running into the mayor. 

According to the statement of facts, Brockton Public Schools Music Director Rebecca Desmond described Rodrigues’s behavior during the parade as “erratic” and told police she initially thought the mayor might be drunk, given his conduct. However, Desmond also told police Rodrigues didn’t seem intoxicated when she interacted with him following the event.

She recalled Rodrigues told her and band director Andrew Fantucchio that it was common in his Cape Verdean culture for adults to put their arms around students. Desmond said she told Rodrigues it is best practice not to put hands on a child without knowing how they might react, or whether they have a history of trauma. 

Fantucchio also told police he checked on the “visibly upset and distraught” girl after the parade and flagged the incident to Brockton Deputy Superintendent Sharon Wolder. Wolder, in turn, told police that Rodrigues offered to apologize after she informed him he had upset students, but that she didn’t think an apology was appropriate at that time. She said she later found out Rodrigues went back to the school to try and apologize, even after she told him not to. 

Rodrigues, for his part, told police he didn’t recall the interaction with the student in question. A U.S. Navy veteran, he said he mimed conducting the band as it played “Anchors Aweigh” — a Navy march song — and acknowledged that he may have also said “play it again.” 

Rodrigues further alleged that members of the school department told him it was ultimately his decision whether to attend Brockton High School’s graduation ceremony a couple weeks later. While he was aware the teen’s parents didn’t want him at the ceremony, he said he felt he owed it to the rest of the graduating class to attend.

Rodrigues’s office declined to comment on the assault charge Wednesday.

Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between. She has been covering the Lindsay Clancy murder case since January 2023.