Another officer linked to Sandra Birchmore may be revoked

Local news

Joshua Heal, a former Abington school official, met Birchmore when she was an adult and allegedly had a sexual relationship with her.

A former Abington police officer with whom he allegedly had a sexual relationship Sandra Birchmore could be decertified by a state watchdog agency, the city’s police chief confirmed.

Abington Police Chief John Bonney, who joined the department in August from the Stoughton Police Department, said he will recommend that the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, or POST, decertify Joshua Heal.

Heal, a former school employee, was named in a Stoughton internal investigation after Birchmore’s death. Boston 25 News first reported.

Birchmore was 23 and pregnant when she was found dead in her Canton apartment in 2021. Investigators initially ruled her death a suicide. Instead, former Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell, who started having sex with her since she was 15, allegedly killed her and faked her death to appear as a suicide, according to a federal indictment.

Three former Stoughton officers are named, including Farwell as defendants in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Birchmore’s estate, alleging that each officer groomed Birchmore, initially through a youth investigator program at the department she joined at age 13. Heal was named as a defendant in that lawsuit in 2023, but that charge was dismissed a year later.

Heal’s attorney Pete Farrell said Heal is a material witness and is cooperating with an ongoing federal investigation. He said last week that Heal was not notified by POST that he might be decertified.

“Allegations are accusations, and it is speculative at best to suggest that Mr. Heal may be decertified,” Farrell told Boston.com in a statement. “The Court made specific findings of fact. These findings speak for themselves and are part of the Court’s official report. These facts show that Mr. Heal and Ms. Birchmore were friends and met when they were both adults.”

Court records: Heal met Birchmore when they were adults

Heal worked like one animal control officer for the city of Stoughton from 2016 to 2020, when he resigned to enroll in the police academy, according to court documents. He met Birchmore around 2016 when she came to adopt a cat from the shelter.

“Defendant Heal admitted to receiving oral sex from Ms. Birchmore on at least one known occasion,” according to court documents. “Heal admitted that he and Ms. Birchmore were close friends in an interview with investigators.”

According to court records, Birchmore and Heal did not know each other when she was a minor, but her estate argued in the wrongful death lawsuit that he abused his position of power over “a vulnerable young adult.” He also allegedly had “significant and detailed knowledge of the sexual abuse” and knew Farwell was tracking Birchmore’s phone, according to records.

“Heal owed Ms. Birchmore a duty to protect her from abusive and grooming behavior exhibited by M. Farwell, W. Farwell and Devine, and to refrain from abusing his status as an Animal Control Officer to obtain sexual contact with Mrs. Birchmore,” the complaint read.

According to POST, Heal has resigned from his role with the Abington Police Department “in lieu of discipline.” He is now certified as a non-associated officer; its certification expires on July 1, 2025.

Farwell’s twin brother and former Stoughton officer William Farwell was decertified by POST last month. Robert Devine, who also allegedly had an inappropriate relationship with Birchmore, is listed as “not certified” by the POST committee.