Charges against former Massachusetts State Trooper Terence Kent, accused of bribery and sexual assault stemming from a 2024 traffic stop in Boston's Brighton neighborhood, were dropped just days before he was set to go on trial. Prosecutors filed the dismissal days before jury selection was scheduled to begin in Middlesex Superior Court, ending a case that had stretched on for nearly two years.
The allegations dated back to August 24, 2024, when Kent allegedly used his marked State Police cruiser to block a vehicle parked near Soldiers Field Road in Brighton, according to the Middlesex District Attorney's Office. He allegedly told the driver his registration had expired, then directed him to meet at a state facility in Lexington, roughly 25 minutes away, where Kent allegedly solicited a sexual favor in exchange for not towing the car.
A Middlesex County Grand Jury indicted Kent on March 11, 2025, on charges of bribery by a public official and indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 years old, per the same office. Under Massachusetts law, bribery by a public official carries a maximum of up to 10 years in state prison, while indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 carries up to 20 years, according to reporting cited by Note My Objection. Both charges also carried alternative lower sentences of up to two and a half years in a county house of correction.
A Trooper's Record Before the Allegations
Kent graduated from the Massachusetts State Police Academy in August 2017. He had previously been suspended for eight days in 2023 for abandoning an assigned post and submitting a false time sheet, as reported by MassLive. State Police relieved Kent of duty and suspended him without pay on November 21, 2024, following an internal affairs review of the sexual misconduct allegations, according to Boston 25 News. That administrative action came months before the criminal indictment.
The Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission followed with its own action, issuing a formal suspension order against Kent on March 12, 2025, under Case No. 2025-018, suspending his law enforcement certification statewide. That suspension prevents Kent from serving in any police capacity in Massachusetts while the case remains under administrative review.
Late Disclosure Upends the Case
The prosecution, handled by Assistant District Attorneys Megan McGovern and Caroline Evans alongside Victim Witness Advocate Joseph Bernstein under Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan, hit a major obstacle in June 2026. Defense attorneys learned that prosecutors had disclosed the accuser had been investigated as a suspect in an unrelated sexual assault case while the Kent prosecution was pending, though Boston Police closed that separate case without filing charges, according to reporting from law enforcement misconduct tracker MassDump. That disclosure delayed trial proceedings and created what the outlet described as a significant credibility hurdle for prosecutors heading toward trial.
Kent's defense attorney, David Yannetti, had filed court motions asserting the roadside interaction was consensual, going so far as to frame the initial traffic stop as what he called a “meet cute,” according to footage of the proceedings. The defense's dismissal filings disputed the non-consensual nature of the encounter altogether.
Trial Date Pushed Back, Then Dropped Entirely
Kent's trial had originally been scheduled for June 2, 2026, before being pushed back to August 2026. Prosecutors ultimately filed a nolle prosequi — a formal entry discontinuing the prosecution without a verdict — dropping all charges days before jury selection was to start, according to CBS News, whose report on the dismissal featured WBZ-TV's Paula Ebben.
While the criminal case has ended, Kent's status with the POST Commission remains unresolved. It is not publicly known whether Kent intends to seek recertification as a law enforcement officer in Massachusetts, and the administrative suspension tied to Case No. 2025-018 has not been lifted. Hoodline previously reported on Kent's initial suspension in November 2024, when the State Police first relieved him of duty amid the internal affairs investigation.
