A 44-year-old Sunday school teacher from Oakham pleaded guilty yesterday to lying to police, telling them she’d been raped, and she was sentenced to 2 years’ probation.
Christine Drolet went to Spencer Police Detective Michael Shea earlier this year and reported that William Domey, a paramedic who worked with her husband, had raped her.
She went to a hospital for treatment, called police several times to check on the status of the case and never recanted until Detective Shea questioned her version of what had happened, prosecutor Courtney Sans told the judge in Western Worcester District Court yesterday.
Mrs. Drolet, who was estranged from her husband and had been living with Mr. Domey in Spencer, used social networking websites to “have a made-up conversation with herself,” that appeared to involve him, Ms. Sans said.
In one email, she told Mr. Domey she was pregnant and sent an ultrasound image of a fetus that Detective Shea determined was a stock photograph she’d gleaned from the Internet.
In an interview after court, Mr. Domey said Mrs. Drolet told the state Office of Emergency Medical Services that he had raped her and the state looked into revoking his paramedic license. He also said Mrs. Drolet had contacted his ex-wife, who had their custody agreement changed so he could no longer see their children.
Ms. Sans said in court that Mrs. Drolet had “decimated his life” and the false charge was “following him to the point where his livelihood was affected.”
“It’s very hard to unring a bell,” she said.
Mrs. Drolet, Ms. Sans said, formulated the story so her husband would “feel bad for her” and would reconcile, which he did.
Mrs. Drolet’s lawyer, Christopher G. Monroy, said with the exception of this incident, Mrs. Drolet is a model citizen, herself an EMT.
He submitted letters of support from her pastor and friends who said she is a Sunday school teacher at Oakham Congregational Church, a singer in the choir and was a member of the town’s cultural council.
“This is conduct that goes without explanation,” Mr. Monroy said.
Judge Timothy M. Bibaud sentenced Mrs. Drolet to one year concurrent sentences at Framingham state prison on the charges of filing a false crime report, criminal harassment and witness intimidation. She was sentenced to two years on a second witness intimidation charge. All of the sentences were suspended for two years, during which time she will remain on probation.
Mr. Domey said after court that while Mrs. Drolet’s sentence will end in two years, he anticipates having problems for much longer as a result of her actions.
He said he is able to see his children again, but has been turned down for jobs because the emergency medical services community is small, and word of the rape allegation, though false, is still spreading.
As a paramedic for eight years with a total of 20 years in the field, he said, he’s hoping that, with Mrs. Drolet having been sentenced, he’ll be able to find work closer to home. He lives in Western Massachusetts and travels to Boston.
Link:
http://www.telegram.com/article/20111221/NEWS/112219884/1003/NEWS03
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