Pregnant Woman's Suicide Sparks Stoughton Officer's Resignation

STOUGHTON, MA — A Stoughton police officer resigned last week after a year-long investigation sparked by the suicide of a 23-year-old woman who told her friends she was pregnant with his baby, the Boston Globe first reported.

Officer Matthew Farwell, 36, resigned Friday, after being put on administrative leave after Feb. 4, 2021, when Sandra Birchmore was found dead inside her Canton apartment, town records show.

According to the Globe, Birchmore told friends she met Farwell as a teenager when he was the instructor in a police explorers program. Three of Birchmore's friends then told the Globe that the two started a sexual relationship when she was just 15, continuing through his later marriage to another woman. The age of consent in Massachusetts is 16.

Birchmore also told her friends she had become pregnant with Farwell's child in late 2020, the Globe reported.

State troopers assigned to Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey's office investigated the death, sharing findings with Stoughton police. "During the death investigation, we uncovered allegations and circumstances that we explored and found sufficiently credible to refer to Stoughton police for further investigation and action," David Traub, a Morrissey spokesman told the Globe in an e-mail on Friday.

The Chief Medical Examiner concluded Birchmore died by suicide in May 2021, also revealing that she was in fact pregnant at the time of her death, but did not indicate the father's identity.

In a statement released through his attorney, Farwell called Birchmore's death "tragic" and said he had no role in it. "Contrary to your questions, I have not committed any crimes," the statement said. Patrick Hanley, Farwell's lawyer told the Globe his client would not comment further.

According to Stoughton's Town manager Robin A. Grimm, Farwell collected nearly $89,000 while on paid administrative leave.

When the internal investigation is completed, Grimm said it will be turned over to the state's newly formed Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, which has the authority to decertify police officers, the Globe said.

For more on this, read The Boston Globe.