A Massachusetts state judge now facing two criminal charges for alleged domestic violence told the woman accusing him that he was "untouchable" because of his position on the bench, according to a redacted State Police report filed this week in Brighton Municipal Court.
Judge Robert A. Welsh III, the first justice of Orleans District Court, is scheduled for a June 11 arraignment on charges of assault and battery on a household or family member and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a person aged 60 or over. He is not in custody. His lawyer declined to comment.
The charges stem from an alleged assault in Sandwich in January, but the State Police report describes a pattern of alleged abuse stretching back to at least 2021, including an incident in Las Vegas to which police responded but no charges were filed. Welsh was placed on administrative duties on May 11, days after the woman came forward to authorities.
The details, reported by the Boston Globe, come from a redacted State Police report written by Detective Lieutenant Kevin P. MacDermott. Cape and Islands District Attorney Robert Galibois contacted MacDermott on the night of May 4 to relay that a woman, whose name was redacted, had indicated she wanted to meet with authorities.
Galibois requested MacDermott's presence at a meeting held May 6. During that meeting, the woman told investigators she was not coming forward to be "vindictive." She then described two alleged assaults by Welsh, one in Las Vegas in 2021 and one in Sandwich this past January.
The January incident, as described in the report, is the basis for the current criminal charges. The woman told investigators Welsh grabbed her by the arm so tightly that she needed to bite him to loosen his grip. She said he then kicked her in the groin area, leaving bruising and swelling that she photographed.
MacDermott wrote that the woman briefly showed the photo to Galibois during the May 6 meeting.
The earlier alleged attack took place on May 10, 2021, in Las Vegas, during an argument before the two were to meet mutual friends at a hotel. The report states that Welsh "threw her to the ground." The Las Vegas Police Department responded, but the woman did not file charges at the time.
Perhaps the most damning line in the report is what the woman told investigators about Welsh's attitude toward accountability. MacDermott wrote that Welsh "would consistently tell her he was 'untouchable' because he was a judge."
That claim, if borne out, goes beyond the physical allegations. It speaks to a belief, allegedly stated aloud and repeatedly, that holding judicial office placed Welsh above the consequences ordinary citizens face. For anyone who believes the justice system depends on the integrity of the people who run it, that single word lands hard.
The woman also told investigators that Welsh was "often intoxicated and would show up to work hungover," and that he became "more easily aggravated." These assertions appear in the State Police report as statements attributed to the woman through MacDermott's account.
When powerful officials face serious allegations, the public has a right to expect that the system handles the case with the same rigor it would apply to anyone else. Recent high-profile cases involving court misconduct have shown just how corrosive it is when the judiciary's own house is not in order.
Suffolk County prosecutors are handling the case "to avoid conflicts," officials have said. The decision to move the prosecution away from the Cape and Islands District Attorney's office, whose own chief, Galibois, played a direct role in receiving the woman's initial complaint and facilitating the May 6 meeting, is a standard but important procedural step.
Galibois did not merely pass along a tip. He personally contacted MacDermott, arranged the meeting, and was present when the woman showed the photograph of her alleged injuries. That level of involvement made it untenable for his office to prosecute.
Whether Suffolk County prosecutors pursue the case aggressively or let it drift will be watched closely. The charges are serious. Assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a person aged 60 or over carries real weight under Massachusetts law, though the State Police report does not specify what object or instrument forms the basis for that charge.
Questions about how courts and prosecutors handle their own are not unique to this case. The Supreme Court's recent refusal to hear a wrongful death case against Andrew Cuomo over COVID nursing home orders reminded many Americans that accountability for powerful officials often runs into procedural walls.
One of the most striking features of the timeline is the distance between the two alleged assaults. The Las Vegas incident is said to have occurred in May 2021. The Sandwich incident allegedly happened in January of this year. The woman did not come forward to Massachusetts authorities until early May.
That four-year gap raises questions the report does not answer. Did the woman file any complaint or report before the May 4 contact? Was there any institutional awareness of Welsh's alleged conduct? The redacted report, as described, does not address those points.
What is clear is that Las Vegas police responded to the 2021 incident and the woman chose not to file charges. Welsh continued serving as a judge. He remained the first justice of Orleans District Court, a position of authority over the lives and liberty of Cape Cod residents who appeared before him.
The broader question of how much latitude judges receive before facing real scrutiny is one that plays out across the country. State courts have drawn intense public attention in recent years for decisions that test the boundaries of judicial power and public trust.
Welsh was placed on administrative duties on May 11, five days after the meeting where the woman described the alleged assaults and showed her photograph. He was not suspended. He was not removed from the bench. He was shifted to administrative work.
That distinction matters. A judge facing two criminal assault charges, including one involving a dangerous weapon, remains technically within the court system. He is not presiding over cases, but the institutional response so far has been measured in a way that might strike ordinary defendants as generous.
Welsh's lawyer declined to comment on Tuesday. No public statement from Welsh himself appears in the record. The charges remain allegations, and Welsh is entitled to the presumption of innocence that every defendant receives, or should receive, in an American courtroom.
But the alleged conduct described in the State Police report, if proven, would represent a profound betrayal of the public trust placed in every judge who takes the bench. Massachusetts courts have already drawn national attention for controversial decisions that test public confidence in the judiciary.
The June 11 arraignment in Brighton Municipal Court will be the first public proceeding in the case. Suffolk County prosecutors will present the charges. Welsh will enter a plea. The court will set conditions.
Between now and then, the public record consists of a redacted police report, two criminal charges, and a judge moved to a desk. The woman's name remains shielded. The specific dangerous weapon cited in the second charge remains unidentified in the available filings.
Open questions abound. What did the court system know, and when? Were there prior complaints? Did anyone inside the judiciary hear Welsh describe himself as "untouchable", and do nothing?
Those answers may emerge in the months ahead. For now, the facts already on the record are enough to demand that this case receive the full, unsparing treatment the system owes every alleged victim, and every taxpayer who funds these courts.
A judge who allegedly told a woman he was beyond consequences is about to find out whether that's true. The answer had better be no.
