Westport Police Detective Accused of Relationship with Alleged Rape Victim

FALL RIVER — A Westport police detective is accused of having a relationship with the alleged victim in a rape investigation that led to the arrest of a Dartmouth town employee, according to a defense lawyer’s filing in Fall River District Court.

In a discovery motion filed March 4, Attorney Kevin Reddington is seeking police reports, documents and any audio and video interviews pertaining to the Westport Police Department’s Internal Affairs investigation of Detective Jeff Majewski.

Majewski is on paid administrative leave while the Westport Police Department investigates whether a “consensual relationship” he had with two unidentified women violated department policy, according to court documents.

Majewski was the detective in the investigation that led to the January 23 arrest of Kevin C. Nunes, 48, on charges of rape and indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over. Nunes, an employee with the Dartmouth Water Department, is free on $5,000 cash bail. He is accused of raping a woman after a dinner date on June 17, according to a report written by Majewski.

In his report, Majewski said he met the woman, hours after the alleged rape, at the Massachusetts State Police Barracks in Dartmouth, and that he identified himself and explained to her that he was a certified sexual assault investigator.

However, Reddington wrote in his motion that the defendant’s own investigation has revealed evidence that, “on information and belief,” indicates Majewski “was indeed having a relationship” with the alleged victim.

“It is submitted that such a relationship is clearly exculpatory and may very well be indicative of a biased, defective investigation that infects the entire process due to the partiality and lack of objectivity of the lead investigator in this matter,” Reddington wrote.

Majewski, a former spokesman for the Westport Police Department, could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. The Herald News of Fall River reported this week that Majewski told the newspaper that he could not comment “any further” than he did previously.

In late February, the Herald News reported that Majewski said in a prepared statement that an ex-girlfriend had told him that she would not be happy until he lost his job and found himself “on the other side of the news.”

“I understand why I was placed on leave and hope that the facts come out at the end of the investigation,” Majewski told the newspaper.

In his report of the Nunes rape investigation, Majewski said he interviewed the alleged victim, who told him that Nunes sexually assaulted her after they went to a friend’s house in Westport. Majewski said he observed and photographed bruises, bite marks and scratches on the woman’s body.

Majewski, accompanied by Westport and Dartmouth police officers, arrested Nunes on June 23 outside the Town of Dartmouth’s Water Treatment Facility at 687 Chase Road. Nunes was arraigned the next day in Fall River District Court.

Other than the alleged victim’s statements, Reddington said in his motion there is “no corroborating evidence or independent witness confirming any assault.” Reddington added that any evidence which could establish a motive “to falsely accuse or prevaricate” is relevant to show bias against his client.

In additional discovery motions, Reddington is also seeking witness statements, medical records, the prosecution’s list of potential witnesses, tape recordings, police logs and any prior rape complaints made by the alleged victim.

Nunes was released on bail after a Jan. 24 dangerousness hearing, where he was placed on GPS monitoring, given an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, and warned to stay away from and have no contact with the victim or witnesses in the case.