Natick Pays WBUR $22K In Public Records Lawsuit Settlement: Report

NATICK, MA — In a new WBUR story about what withholding public records has cost communities in Massachusetts, the public is reporting that their lawsuit against Natick has been settled for more than $22,000.

WBUR first filed the lawsuit late last year, accusing the town of withholding public records relating to now ex-cop James Quilty.

Quilty, as Patch reported, resigned shortly before he entered a guilty plea in December 2022 after being charged with the assault of a Natick 911 dispatcher more than two years ago. Soon after that the Massachusetts POST Commission suspended his certification.

WBUR first sued Natick in Middlesex Superior Court in 2022 after they wouldn't release even basic public information to them related to Quilty, according to the story. Once the lawsuit was filed, a slow stream of information from town officials started being released.

Patch has reached out to Natick officials for comment.

For more on the financial repercussions of withholding public information, read the full WBUR story here.

All of this stems back to Quilty, who assaulted a 28-year-old town dispatcher in April 2020 after a social gathering in a parking lot.

"On April 12, 2020 the defendant and the victim went to a gathering after work with other members of the Natick Police Department. At one point during the night the defendant inappropriately touched the victim against her will. He continued to touch her despite her attempts to move his hands away from her and to verbally tell him to stop. As the victim attempted to leave, the defendant also reached into her car and again inappropriately touched her and prevented her from leaving," the DA said in a news release.

Quilty was indicted in December 2021, and was suspended without pay in January. He entered into the guilty plea on Dec. 12 and resigned just days later ahead of a town council meeting in which his future was set to be discussed.