Former Gardner police officer pleads guilty to lesser charge in Hampton sexual assault case

HAMPTON — A former Massachusetts police officer accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Hampton in 2023 has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge to resolve the case.

Dylan Bryant, 30, of Gardner, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty Sept. 16 in Rockingham Superior Court to a misdemeanor charge of simple assault (physical contact or bodily injury) as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.

He was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for three years subject to good behavior. As part of the deal, prosecutors dropped two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault.

Deputy County Attorney Roger Chadwick said in his notice not to pursue criminal charges that Bryant had pleaded “for a reduced charge with the victim’s agreement.”

Bryant was indicted by a Rockingham County grand jury in July 2023. He resigned from his job as a police officer in Gardner, Massachusetts, after the indictment was handed up by the grand jury. The Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission also suspended Bryant’s law enforcement license.

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The indictments alleged that the sexual assault took place in Hampton between May 28 and 30, 2022, and that the woman was “physically powerless to resist.”

The simple assault charge to which Bryant pleaded guilty stemmed from allegations that he “had unprivileged physical contact with (the victim) while (the victim) was intoxicated and he would have done without his permission.

As part of the suspended prison sentence, the judge ordered Bryant to have no contact with the victim and to maintain good behavior for the next three years. Good conduct was defined by the judge as the absence of contact with the victim and “the absence of new crimes, misdemeanors or major motor vehicle infractions as defined in the repeat offender statute.”

This article originally appeared on the Portsmouth Herald: Former Gardner officer pleads guilty to lesser charge in sexual assault case