Michael C. Goodchild; Creating Victims Where There Are None

When I was fourteen, I had my first memorable negative interaction with police. Today, I decided to go down to the Keene Police Department and request the records regarding that interaction. After waiting half an hour for the clerk and Captain Russo to read statutes to make sure it was not illegal to release juvenile records to the person who was the subject of the report, I was able to obtain a copy of the incident report. Today is the first time I have had a chance to read it.

On November 14, 2007 Detective Michael Goodchild of the Keene Police Department arrived at my house to question me regarding a report that had been placed by a family “friend,” or my ex’s mom rather, who I will refer to as “Cindy.” The previous Sunday, I left my house late at night without my father’s permission. Goodchild’s report states that I ran away – but there is a difference between running away and leaving for a few hours. Nevertheless, an issue to be dealt with within the family. Apparently, “Cindy” heard allegations, from someone who allegedly witnessed me speaking to somebody, that I was hanging out with someone who was eighteen or nineteen. “Cindy” jumped to conclusions.

First, don’t believe everything you hear. I can guarantee that whoever made the aforementioned allegation could not have possibly known where I was, who I was with, or what I was doing. Also, even if I had been hanging out with somebody who was older than me, that is not a crime, and that most certainly does mean that I was having sex with them. “Cindy” made the assumption, based on someone claiming that I had been hanging out with an older individual, that I had sex with them. She decided to file a police report and share her unfounded accusations with my father. Apparently, she was aware that the officer would be coming to question me, so she made sure she was at my house when he arrived.

Upon arrival, Michael Goodchild questioned me about whether the accusations of Aggravated Felonious Sexual Assault Statutory Rape that “Cindy” had filed were true. I informed him that, no, I hadn’t had sex with anyone.

Goodchild’s report said,

“I asked Kate where she was on Sunday night while she was a runaway. Kate refused to answer the question. I asked Kate who she was with on Sunday evening. Again, Kate refused to answer my questions.

“Cindy” said Kate has the boys information on her cell phone. I asked why it wasn’t taken away from her yet. “Cindy” said she and [Kate's father] had been trying to get the phone, but she kept resisting. I asked “Cindy” and [father] who the parents were here.”

That is a good question, Goodchild. Who were the parents there? Let’s see. There was my dad, and…oh wait, just my dad. “Cindy” was not my parent, and obviously neither was Goodchild. This is where the story should end, as he has already received the information he needed – I was not a victim.

Now, Goodchild’s report states that my father and “Cindy” had me on the ground and the three of us were “rolling around” as they tried to get my cell phone.

“As they were rolling around, [father] and “Cindy” asked for my assistance. While the three were wrestling around, Kate managed to put the cell phone in her bra. I ended up grabbing a hold of Kate’s arms, and holding them behind her back while “Cindy” took possession of the phone.”

Yes, it is true that “Cindy” and my father (but mostly “Cindy”) had made physical attempts to snatch the phone from my hands, and I had placed it in my bra. Michael Goodchild fails to mention that when he grabbed onto my arms and pulled them behind my back, he asked “Cindy” to reach into my bra and take my phone. Willing to violate my personal space and, for lack of a better term, molest me on request, “Cindy” did as she was asked.

“I had Kate sit in a chair in the kitchen. I asked Kate why she was acting this way. Kate refused to talk.”

At this point, Michael Goodchild went out to his car to, according to his report, run a few names in his computer. “Cindy” went outside as well. A few minutes later, “Cindy” reportedly ran over to Goodchild to tell him that she could hear my father and I fighting inside. I was upset that he had believed “Cindy” and was allowing this nonsense to happen. I stood up and began to walk away, but my dad blocked my path. At this point, Goodchild came running inside. Just to be clear, the fighting that “Cindy” ran over to tell Goodchild about was solely verbal.

Yes, I did get up from my chair and walk out the front door of the house. I had already answered the only question that mattered, which was whether or not I was a victim. I felt violated after someone I trusted decided to reach into my bra and take my cell phone at the request of a stranger, one who was forcefully restraining me – not to mention geting police involved because she didn’t believe me when I said the unfounded accusations she was making were not true. I had nothing else to say because they, as in Goodchild and “Cindy,” seemed to be intent on making a case against an innocent person and did not care in the slightest whether it was real or imagined. I didn’t feel safe in my own home – so I left.

Michael Goodchild admits to grabbing me by the hair, which was in a ponytail, and jerking my arm behind my back, but what he fails to mention is that when he grabbed my hair, he also pushed my head forward and downward, slamming it against the wooden railing. A large bruise began to form across my forehead almost immediately. He handcuffed me and placed me in the back of his cruiser, then transported me to the Cheshire Medical Center emergency room, where I sat handcuffed as I was checked in by a nurse and they investigated into whether or not I had a concussion. I did not have a concussion, but the bruise was far from pretty.

After 45 minutes to an hour, the handcuffs were removed. Eventually I was released to my father. Michael Goodchild had already left at this point, but had obtained a phone number of the person “Cindy” made accusations against from my cell phone. There were no text messages or phone calls between the two phones. Even after questioning the alleged victim and learning that no such interaction took place, harming the alleged victim and still receiving the same answer, Goodchild decided to continue investigating – or lying in an attempt to gain a confession.

“I bluffed _____ a little.” Falsely claiming that I reported a rape, or sex of any kind, was not just bluffing a little, it was a flat out lie.

The report continues on to say that both I and the other individual denied ever having sex,  it isn’t even sure if the individual that was being questioned was the right person, and that the case would be suspended pending further investigation. That was the end, because there is nothing to be found where there is nothing.

My interaction with Michael Goodchild gave me my first true glimpse of the violence inherent in the system. Goodchild, acting on unfounded ‘information’ obtained through the grapevine, created a victim where there was none. In addition to physically harming me, Goodchild harassed an innocent person and told lies causing him, and others, to believe that I would make up a false story about something as serious as rape.

Who was he trying to protect? Trust me, the only person I needed protection from was him.

(Obviously it was time to cut ties with “Cindy” too.)

Can you imagine if he had treated a real victim in such a manner?

Police Officer Michael C. Goodchild (154) of the Keene Police Department in Keene, NH

Michael C. Goodchild; Creating Victims Where There Are None is a post from Cop Block – Badges Don’t Grant Extra Rights