MONTAGUE — Montague Police Lt. Christopher Bonnett was suspended last month after a private investigation found he violated four Police Department policies while conducting an internal affairs investigation involving another officer in August 2024, according to an 84-page report obtained by the Greenfield Recorder.

The violations cited occurred when Bonnett was investigating a workplace harassment complaint against former Montague Police Officer Joshua Dobosz. Bonnett has been on paid administrative leave since December 2024 and Dobosz resigned from the department on Aug. 15, 2024, four days before the Selectboard scheduled an executive session to discuss potential disciplinary actions against him.

Private investigator Steven P. Fennessy of Colando Investigative Services LLC in Quincy was hired to conduct an investigation starting in mid-December after Police Chief Christopher Williams was made aware that Bonnett and the officer who filed the complaint against Dobosz “may have been in a dating relationship” while the internal affairs investigation was in progress, “which may have created a conflict of interest,” the report reads.

The third-party investigation concluded that Bonnett violated the Montague Police Department’s policies on internal affairs, incurring department liability, as well as two policies related to incompetence and truthfulness.

The Selectboard, in issuing a notice of discipline against Bonnett on April 1, sustained three of the four violations cited by the outside investigator, excluding the policy on truthfulness. Selectboard Chair Richard Kuklewicz said the board felt that this violation identified by Fennessy “didn’t rise to the same level” as the other violations that the board chose to uphold.

Bonnett was suspended for 30 days starting March 25. He will then retire from the department in good standing on May 2, with all parties having agreed to resolve the issue without litigation, according to town officials.

The third-party investigation was initiated days after the officer who filed the complaint against Dobosz sent text messages to Detective Sgt. Joshua Hoffman on Dec. 7. The texts, copies of which were included in the investigation, allude to a relationship between the officer and Bonnett that was ongoing for nine months, although under questioning by Fennessy, the officer later said this was a typo that should’ve read nine weeks, and related to the duration of a sexual relationship between the officers — an explanation the report says doesn’t “jibe” with the interviews that both officers provided about the duration of their relationship.

Williams, the police chief, also learned that around the time of the internal affairs investigation, Bonnett and the officer may have traveled to Las Vegas together on a scheduled trip, “raising suspicion” of the nature of the relationship, the report states. Bonnett was placed on administrative leave starting Dec. 11, and Colando Investigative Services was hired on Dec. 17. The investigation cost $13,858, and was paid out of the Police Department’s operating budget, Town Administrator Walter Ramsey confirmed.

The report states the trip was scheduled by the officer for Aug. 12 to Aug. 17. Bonnett’s investigation of the allegations against Dobosz was submitted to town officials and Williams on Aug. 12.

The officer purchased two tickets to travel to Las Vegas from Boston on the same flight. Although the officer spent two nights in Bonnett’s hotel room, both told an investigator that no sexual relationship occurred during the trip.

The report also details two trips to Boston that Bonnett took with the officer — one prior to the August investigation where they claim to have shared the same hotel room bed and Bonnett said they did not have sexual relations, and one in late October when they both admitted to having a sexual relationship.

Although Bonnett and the officer said in interviews that they maintained a friendly, platonic relationship in late 2022 and early 2023, text messages were reviewed as part of the investigation that contained “erotic language” and “sexual innuendo.”

“While it may have been transmitted at a time and place when both officers were off-duty, it could be argued that the relationship between Lt. Bonnett and [the officer] went far beyond that of a strictly professional and/or work relationship,” the report states.

Fennessy, the private investigator, reviewed specific department policies and concluded Bonnett violated four of them, including an internal affairs policy because of the relationship the two had prior to the internal investigation beginning.

“The type of investigation such as the one involving [redacted] and Officer Dobosz are highly consequential for the accuser, for the accused and for the department,” the report reads. The report continued that both officers expressed that since no sexual relationship between the two occurred during the internal affairs investigation, “Lt. Bonnett remained an unbiased investigator who could impartially discharge his duty to investigate the matters involving [the officer].”

Internal investigation

Colando Investigative Services’ report details how the internal affairs investigation conducted by Bonnett began on Aug. 7, 2024 when the officer, who is the complainant, shared with Officer Michael Sevene that Dobosz would allegedly follow her into the women’s locker room and enter the room while she was changing, and would make inappropriate and sexual comments to her despite her asking him to stop. She claims he used the guise of handing her a Taser to contact her in the women’s locker room.

Sevene then contacted Bonnett regarding the information the officer shared with him. During her interview with Bonnett, which was not audio recorded, the officer stated Dobosz “repeatedly” made her uncomfortable.

In his interview with Bonnett, Dobosz reportedly admitted that he had been into the women’s locker room while the officer was in there, but didn’t recall the number of times this had happened. However, according to the report, Bonnett did not share with Dobosz security footage that provided evidence of the number of times he had been in the locker room, which the report states goes against “fundamental fairness.” The security footage shows Dobosz entering the women’s locker room on five separate occasions in July 2024.

Due to the nature of the allegations, Dobosz was suspended on Aug. 8, and resigned on Aug. 15. He declined to comment on the investigation.

Violations

Fennessy states in his report that “one could argue that the investigation and subsequent report has some deficiencies,” citing how no other interviews were conducted except with the complainant and the accused, the complainant’s interview was not audio recorded, a written complaint was not provided, a follow-up interview was not conducted with the complainant and the Police Station video footage was apparently never presented to Dobosz during his interview. Thus, Fennessy felt Bonnett violated the department’s internal affairs policies.

“Unfortunately, what the chief, the town officials and one could argue, [is what] the accused are left with is a statement taken and written by Lt. Bonnett who, by the preponderance of the evidence, is arguably biased due to an ongoing relationship as described, sexual or not, with the complainant,” the report states.

The investigation determined that Bonnett violated a department policy on truthfulness for not notifying Williams of his relationship with the officer or the planned trip to Las Vegas that he allegedly told Williams was a trip to Boston.

The policy on incurring department liability was also violated, Fennessy determined, because Bonnett did not consider other investigative avenues after the complaint was filed and still conducted the internal investigation himself despite his relationship with the officer, which he failed to disclose to Williams. According to Fennessy’s report, Bonnett “created a situation in which Officer Dobosz may be in a position to exercise a legal standing.”

The report also states that Bonnett violated a policy related to incompetence for the relationship he had with an officer in a subordinate rank, and for failing to understand the “glaring perceptions and repercussions” that could occur from his relationship with the complainant in that investigation.

Dobosz has been working for the Bernardston Police Department as a patrol officer since September 2024.

Bernardston Police Chief James Palmeri said he was aware of the internal affairs investigation in Montague at the time he hired Dobosz, and the allegations against him. Palmeri noted he spoke to Williams and Bonnett about the situation to make an informed decision in hiring Dobosz, who was truthful about the situation during his interviews. Palmeri noted he was not comfortable with the internal affairs investigation and said it “seemed targeted.”

Montague Town Administrator Walter Ramsey, Montague Selectboard Chair Richard Kuklewicz and Williams declined to comment on the investigation, saying the documents would speak for themselves. Bonnett, communicating through Williams, also declined to comment.

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.