FORMER BREWSTER COP GETS SUSPENDED SENTENCE ON CHILD PORN CHARGES

Above photo: Barnstable County Court House by T.S. Custadio / HN edits   BARNSTABLE, MASSACHUSETTS –  A former Brewster Police officer who reportedly pleaded guilty to child pornography charges avoided jail time at a sentencing hearing yesterday – 2/27/25. According to Danielle Whitney, Director of Community Programs and a media contact for the Cape & Islands District Attorney’s Office, Matthew B. Marshall was sentenced Thursday in Barnstable Superior Court. The Commonwealth had “requested that Mr. Marshall be committed to the Barnstable House of Correction for 18 months with probation from and after,” Whitney told HN in an email Thursday evening. “The judge suspended his sentence for 18 months and placed him on probation for 3 years with conditions,” the email read. “According to mass courts it says it was Judge Gildea and mass courts also says the judge informed the defendant that he must register as a sex offender,” Whitney told HN in a second, follow-up email when HN asked for the name of the judge, while also inquiring whether Marshall would need to register as a sex offender. Judge Mark C. Gildea is listed as a “Superior Court Regional Administrative Justice” for the counties of Barnstable, Dukes, and Nantucket, according to Mass.gov. In a July 24, 2024 media statement, Cape & Islands District Attorney Robert J. Galibois announced that Matthew B. Marshall, a police officer with the Town of Brewster Police Department, “was arrested this afternoon after his duty shift by members of the Massachusetts State Police Cyber Crimes Unit/Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Officer Marshall was charged with Possession of Child Pornography, Dissemination of Child Pornography, Defacement of Real or Personal Property, Unlawful Communication of Record Information, and Photos Taken Outside of First Responder’s Official Duties. Chief Heath Eldredge of the Brewster Police Department immediately suspended Officer Marshall’s license to carry a firearm, secured his service weapon from Officer Marshall, and placed Officer Marshall on administrative leave,” according to the July 24, 2024 statement from the DA’s office. Marshall later resigned from the Brewster Police Department on July 31, 2024, according to online sources. According to a WHDH report (which includes a video report by Kimberly Bookman), child sexual abuse images and disturbing videos were discovered as the investigation into Marshall unfolded. The WHDH report references court documents regarding Marshall’s case: Court paperwork revealed a video was found of Brewster police responding to a medical call. The paperwork said the video showed “… an elderly male… in a state of nudity.” Another video was documented as showing a police computer screen, with Marshall “… making derogatory remarks about the subject whose photograph was displayed.” Detectives said they also found video of Marshall inside a Dunkin’ Donuts “… urinating on the sinks and faucets of what appeared to be public bathrooms.” HN checked the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board website and was not yet able to find any entries for “Matthew Marshall” as of 2:00 a.m. Friday morning, 2/28/2025.