City Councilor: This is not 'cancel culture,' this is for the good of the city

City Councilor Palana Belken, Doug Lachance (Courtesy photos)

ROCHESTER - One of the City Councilors who led the charge calling on former councilor Doug Lachance to step down told The Rochester Voice on Wednesday that his resignation was necessary to allow the city to move forward with projects vital to the city like the new Sig Sauer facility on Milton Road, Chinburg Properties' development of the Scenic Salinger block and ongoing growth at The Ridge Marketplace.

Ward 2 Councilor Palana Belken and Ward 1 Councilor Jeremy Hutchinson were the only councilors who called on Lachance to resign soon after police and the county prosecutor acknowledged that a 2007 sex assault probe involving Lachance and a juvenile had been reopened.

"For a city like Rochester who is actively pursuing substantial economic revitalization - including projects by Sig Sauer, Chinburg Properties, and the ongoing Ridge development - to be represented by someone facing a sexual abuse investigation risks this continued development," Belken wrote in an email to The Voice. "I thank Doug for stepping away during this undoubtedly difficult time."

In a letter delivered to the mayor and City Manager on Wednesday, Lachance, a former Rochester mayor, officially resigned his Ward 1 City Council seat effective immediately.

Rochester Mayor Caroline McCarley said the Council will officially accept his resignation at its next regular meeting and post the vacancy.

Lachance has denied the allegations and did so again in his letter of resignation.

"It is with great regret that I have decided to resign effective immediately from my post as Ward 1 City Councilor, due to uncharged allegations ... although I adamantly deny the allegations against me, or any inappropriate behavior for that matter," Lachance wrote in the letter, adding, "an ongoing investigation will do nothing but serve as a distraction to City business. I believe that under the circumstances, it will be in the best interest of the City of Rochester and my constituents for me to step down, so the City can move forward. I thank all of you who supported me, and those who continue to show your support."

Belken said there are those who have called the cries for Lachance to resign part of a "cancel culture" that has come to the city.

"Some worry this is 'cancel culture' arriving in Rochester, and that's simply just not true," she said. "While it is important to note that Lachance has not been charged with or convicted of any crimes, these are serious, substantiated allegations that deserve investigation - one that will inevitably be very public. To all survivors of sexual abuse: I see you, I believe you, I stand with you."

The reopening of the probe by police and prosecutors began after the alleged victim contacted police about a month ago and expressed interest in pursuing charges, police said.

In a 2007 police affidavit, Andy Brooks, 37, of Colorado, who grew up in Rochester, alleges Lachance made inappropriate sexual advances to him when he was a teenager.
A deeply disturbing affidavit from 2007 paints a picture of Lachance's East Rochester home as a haven for young boys in their teens where booze and grass were nearly always at hand.

Brooks told investigators in 2007 that most of the abuse occurred in the spring of 2001.

He stated that one one particular night he drank some cider which seemed awfully strong. "He stated he had two glasses one night and blacked out. He stated he woke up to Lachance 'open mouth kissing him,'" the affidavit says.

In another alleged incident, Brooks stated "that he was intoxicated in Lachance's bed. He stated that Lachance had his arm on his shoulder. Brooks brushed his arm away and told him no. He stated that Lachance then slid his arm down his side and he again brushed his arm away. He stated that Lachance then placed his hand on his penis and when Brooks went to brush it away, he held on for a second (estimated five seconds) then he was able to push his hand away."

Brooks, who was in the military by 2007, told a Fort Bragg interviewer that he had the hard cider about 15 times and that he "blacked out 10 of those times and ended up in Lachance's bed about half of those times by the morning." He also estimated that during this two- to three-year time frame when he frequented Lachance's home he probably visited him more than 200 times.

The presence of booze and weed at Lachance's East Rochester residence was corroborated by other young men who spoke with Rochester Police during the initial probe.

Brooks also told investigators that Lachance often professed his love for him, which was corroborated by another young man police spoke to.

Brooks' wife, who was also interviewed by the Ft. Bragg investigator, said her husband checked into a mental hospital for two weeks in April 2001. She told the interviewer, "Lachance was angry Brooks had gone."

On June 13, 2007, Rochester Police Det. Steven Bourque and another detective went to interview Lachance, who they say admitted that Brooks was among "several juveniles that would come to his residence" and "they did drink and smoke pot while there, but he never provided it to them."

During the visit Lachance denied that he touched Brooks in the ways that had been alleged and that he never kissed him.

During the interview Lachance agreed to come down to the police station later to record his statement, but the next day Bourque indicates in his affidavit that Lachance left him a voice message stating he was thinking about coming in for a statement but he would be contacting his attorney first.

Strafford County Attorney Tom Velardi said the reason the case was dropped in 2007 was because the main complainant - represented as Brooks in police documents - decided not to move forward with what would have likely been a long and difficult trial.
Velardi and police have declined comment on the case as it is again active.

Hutchinson did not return requests for comment on this story.

Meanwhile, Lachance has removed his personal Facebook page and declined further comment.