A United States Secret Service employee and driver for former first lady Michelle Obama was charged with criminal harassment and witness intimidation in a Massachusetts courthouse last Friday, according to court documents.
Douglas Vines, 53, was indicted in Edgartown District Court, according to the Cape Cod and Islands District Attorney’s Office, and pleaded not guilty, Edgartown District Court Secretary Liza Williamson told CNN .
A police report from the Oak Bluffs Police Department filed last month claims that a woman revealed to police that she had been dating Vines for about two months when he declared he wanted to have sex with her in one night, but she decided he didn’t want to. .
The woman explained that Vines “lost control,” alternating between calling out to her and yelling, and texting her about how she was “messing with the wrong person,” according to the report. The woman further said Vines used her position as the Obama family’s driver to intimidate her “while she was trying to get her to come back and have sex with him,” the document continues.
According to the report, the woman exposed that Vines told her that he could “grab” her cell phone, read her text messages, enter her phone, and that he had her DNA. Vines told the woman that he had recorded her without her knowledge when they talked about her citizenship status and that he would deport her.
The woman showed police two photos Vines sent her, including a photo of her shirtless with her hand against her breasts and “her attention turned in another direction.
“Vines also threatened to release the photos he had of her, as well as deport her if she went to the police,” according to the report.
In a later interview with police, the woman stated that “there were several times he would try to film or photograph her when they were having sex and she would say no,” according to another police report attached to the complaint. She communicated that Vines had some consensual nude photos, but she did not remember or consent to the photo he sent her, according to the report.
The woman “reiterated that she was distressed by the consensual and non-consensual nude photos or videos he had of her because she said she owned more and would use them against her,” according to the report.
However, she denied that Vines threatened to physically harm or kill her, telling police that he never assaulted her, “only abused her emotionally.”
THE CNN was unable to locate Vines’ defense attorney.
A judge issued an abuse prevention order the same day the woman reported Vines to the police, directing him to stay away from her and not contact her. Vines was also instructed to hand over any firearms, gun licenses, and firearm identification cards he had. The driver handed over his Glock 9mm service pistol, three full magazines and one round of ammunition, according to the criminal complaint.
“We were informed of the charges against him [um oficial de apoio investigativo] and the outcome of legal proceedings [da semana passada],” US Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement. “We have extraordinarily high ethical standards and the allegations are very worrying.”
Guglielmi also reported that Vines has been placed on administrative leave, his security clearance has been suspended and “his equipment and access to any Secret Service facility or protected location has also been suspended pending criminal and administrative action.”
He added that Vines’ suspension “means he will be removed from former President Obama’s details until the criminal component and our personal investigation are completed.”
Source: CNN Brasil
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