Student testifies that Brockton mayor touched her at parade: "It made me quite uncomfortable"

Brockton, Massachusetts Mayor Moises Rodrigues was in court Monday as a student seeks to extend a harassment prevention order against him for an alleged incident at a parade last month that led to a graduation ceremony confrontation.

The 17-year-old girl testified in Hingham District Court that she was playing the trombone as part of the school marching band in the Huntington Parade on May 22 when she felt someone holding her by the waist.

She said she looked to the side and recognized that person as the mayor.

"He was very close to me and it made me quite uncomfortable," she said. "His face was very close to mine and he was kind of nudging in a way to pull me closer to him."

The girl said she remembers "trying to pull away."

"It was kind of weird for the mayor to approach me the way he did," she said.

Back at school after the parade, the teen was told the mayor wanted to talk to her, which she said caused her to start panicking. She said she locked herself in the girl's bathroom in order to avoid him.

"I just stayed in that stall repeating that I'm not going out there, I can't go back out there," she said. 

Brockton High graduation encounter

Ahead of graduation, the girl said she got a letter from the school district saying that the mayor should not attend the ceremony. 

But Rodrigues did show up to the June 6 event and spoke, and social media video circulated from that day shows the girl's mother running up to the stage, shouting "You know what you did to my daughter!" before she's led away by police officers.

The girl said her dad was also detained, and neither parent was able to watch her get her diploma.

"I was very disappointed and angry," the girl said. 

Brockton mayor testifies

Rodrigues testified that even though the school district asked him not to attend, he thought it was his duty to be at the graduation ceremony. He said he decided he wouldn't hand out diplomas to avoid coming into contact with the accuser.

"I felt that I owed it to the other 800 something kids that were graduating from the high school," he said. "I was part of the program, i was on the agenda."  

Rodrigues, who said he came into contact with "hundreds of people" at the parade, denied touching the girl inappropriately, but said "I believe that it's possible that I put my hand on her." He said he went to the school after the parade to apologize because a district official told him that a student reported he had made them feel uncomfortable.

"I felt awful because as a father of three daughters, and also being someone who's always protected children, I don't want any kid to feel uncomfortable for something I did," he said. "I didn't know if it was a boy or a girl to be honest with you because they're all in full uniform."  

The 64-year-old who was elected last November said he used to develop programming for the Archdiocese of Boston to protect children from abuse after the clergy sex abuse scandal. The girl's lawyer asked Rodrigues if it would be appropriate for any school employees to touch students.

"Appropriate touching is perfectly fine," Rodrigues said. "Every time you put a hand on somebody's shoulder or a kid, a nice pat on the upper back, that's appropriate."

Band teacher says he saw something "inappropriate"

Before Rodrigues took the stand, Brockton High School music teacher Andrew Fantucchio said he saw the mayor dancing "very close to our students" at the parade. 

"It struck me as odd," he said. "Not something I've seen from a city official before."

Fantucchio said that he thought about stopping the parade after seeing the mayor dancing with the girl, but "froze."

"Watching it in that moment, I knew it was something that was inappropriate," he said. "I could see how shaken she was, and she was barely speaking."

The judge said he would issue a ruling later on Monday.