John Robert F. Rose, the former fire chief in Oak Bluffs and a former West Tisbury firefighter, was placed on 14-months probation on Monday for charges relating to an alleged attempt to video tape nude individuals, one of which was a minor. 

Rose, 54, faced two counts of attempting to commit a crime on Monday at the Edgartown Courthouse. According to court documents, one count was for placing a hidden camera to photograph, video, or conduct electronic surveillance of a nude or partially nude person and the other count for placing a hidden camera in an attempt to pose or exhibit a child in a state of nudity or sexual conduct.

According to court documents, Rose changed his plea from not guilty to a tender plea of “admission to sufficient facts” at the courthouse on Monday. According to local attorneys, that means Rose is admitting the prosecution has the evidence to prove his guilt, but is not technically pleading guilty. 

Court documents state that Rose’s defense attorney, Elliot M. Weinstein entered the tender plea on Monday requesting that Rose serve a one-year probationary period with conditions for his charges of attempting to commit a crime. Prosecutors instead proposed an 18-month probation period with conditions. Edgartown District Court Judge Benjamin C. Barnes ultimately decided to continue the case without finding for 14 months, through May 22, 2027, with Rose sentenced to supervised probation with all conditions imposed, including that Rose continue to attend therapy sessions and stay away and have no contact with the alleged victim.

Rose previously pleaded not guilty for charges of attempting to conduct “electronic surveillance” on a “nude or partially nude persons,” and attempting to pose or exhibit a “child in state of nudity or sexual conduct,” in August of 2024. Rose was arrested on Jan. 20, 2024 at Logan Airport in Boston after being investigated for allegedly secretly filming a nude minor.

A representative from the Cape & Island’s District Attorney’s Office was not immediately available to comment why Rose’s charges changed.

According to court documents, on Oct. 3, Rose submitted a motion to suppress evidence, including an alleged USB wall outlet charging a device labeled “AC Adapter,” and all evidence derived from the warrantless examination of the device by investigators. In the motion to suppress, Rose claims investigators unlawfully seized the device from his residence. 

The motion to suppress was scheduled for Monday, but before the motion was heard Rose tendered an admission to sufficient facts plea. 

Alongside the Monday decision, Rose’s charges for a similar incident  were dismissed. Rose had been charged with photographing an unsuspecting nude person in January of 2024, as investigations into his alleged attempt to film a minor were ongoing, an individual told police Rose showed them a video of someone performing a sexual act on his phone which was recorded without their knowledge. According to court documents he allegedly filmed the nude adult without consent between May 2020 and October 2020. 

According to court documents, also on Monday, Rose had a motion approved to travel to South Carolina during school vacation week in April. Rose must provide his probation officer with a detailed itinerary and contact probation upon his return.

Rose served as chief of the Oak Bluffs Fire Department from 2014 to 2020. He resigned amid a sexual harassment claim that the town settled for $97,500 in 2020. During his tenure, the FBI also launched an investigation into the department for allegedly overbilling Medicare and Medicaid for off-Island ambulance runs. He later joined the West Tisbury Fire Department as a volunteer in 2022 and was indefinitely suspended in December 2023 after a harassment prevention order was issued against him.

27 replies on “Former fire chief sentenced to probation over secret filming case”

    1. This is a product of decades of us voting for the so called legislators that make these laws, the DA’s that prosecute these crimes, and electing those that appoint district court judges and more importantly, mass supreme court judges. I sure most people would be very upset if they read some of the Mass supreme court decisions, including one that has released over 50 convicted murderers sentenced to life without parole.

      1. This case certainly illustrates the shortcomings of our justice system. Certainly not for the victims of these crimes. Hopefully they can take him to civil court and sue the pant’s off of him –pardon the pun , or whatever it is. We all have disagreed with certain judicial rulings– I think we are unanimous on this one. But Dan– the Ma supreme court case you cite is a bit more complicated than you might think. All of the people affected by that decision were all between 18 and 21 at the time of the murders. Convictions under the age of 18 do not allow life without parole — in any state. The ruling did not release them but gave the parole boards the option to grant parole . Ma. was one of only 10 states that allowed for life without parole for “emerging adults” (18-21) before that decision. The first 8 that were granted parole had been in jail since before 1985. I believe people can be reformed. https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2025/12/28/dozens-of-mass-murder-convicts-have-been-granted-parole-sparking-backlash-from-prosecutors/. https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2025/01/13/8-convicted-of-murder-while-young-adults-become-first-to-be-paroled-under-new-sjc-decision/

        1. Don’t worry Don, I know how they work better than I wish, all court decisions are deeper than they seem on a line by line basis. Yes it did not release them but the parole board has approved almost every application, effectively making it a release. The law is a bloody word game and these people are not our friends. The rest comes down to opinion, while people can be reformed, this removed the fear factor of dying in jail for these adults, that are old enough to vote, go to war, fly planes, own houses, ect.

  3. Infuriating and a terrible lesson all around. A 14 year old showed infinitely more courage and common sense than the adults running the justice system that’s supposed to protect her (and others) from predators like John Rose.

  6. It’s a man’s world. All cover ups and excuses. This is disgusting and he should be publicly shamed and ousted from the community . I hope he has to register as a sex offender everywhere he goes. I have no pity.

  7. This isn’t just disappointing — it’s alarming.

    Hidden cameras. Non-consensual recording. An allegation involving a minor. That’s not a gray area. It’s a serious violation of privacy and trust — the kind of conduct people expect will carry real consequences.

    Instead, the case ends with 14 months of probation through an “admission to sufficient facts” — a legal outcome that avoids a guilty finding while acknowledging the evidence.

    Call it what you want. The result is what matters.

    It leaves an uncomfortable question: if this went on over time, how long had it been happening before anyone knew? And how many others might never know?

    And it leaves a message, whether intended or not — that even in a case like this, the consequences can be minimal.
    That’s hard to reconcile.

    Probation. Convenient for him. Sickening for everyone else.

  11. Everyone’s neglecting what else he has done – this wasn’t a first time offense. And I wouldn’t be surprised if victims also include those who suffered in his hands – not just those captured by electronics outside his hands’ reach. Will the island ever stop forgiving its own? I wrote about embezzlers, real estate Ponzi schemers, pedophiles, and wire tappers whom I knew. Today those still alive are elected or appointed island officials. Because they were born here or spent their entire life here, these people are Islanders – and that’s all that matters. We need to love them, treat them gently, forgive them. And, enough of pandering to the victims!! She’s young. She’ll get over it. But this poor man – he was actually put on Probation and this was published so every one now knows! Tragic. Sob. Sob. How can he recover from this public humiliation?

  12. Sad commentary. It starts at the top. Let’s not forget those trump/epstein files, or the overturned roe vs wade, or female voters name challenges at the voters booth…perhaps it’s time for the female uprising/revolution , we’re not going to take it anymore! After all, we are “half the sky”.

  14. We are failing to protect our children when we treat sex offenders like John Rose in this way. Probation, and no mention of registering as a sex offender, is a gross mishandling of justice. What message are we sending people that have the courage to speak up if this is the result?

  15. On March 26, 2026, a former New Haven schools employee, 49, pleaded guilty and took a plea deal that will see him sentenced to five years in prison followed by 10 years of probation. He was charged with voyeurism, child pornography possession, and risk of injury to a minor after hiding a camera in a home bathroom.
    A 29-year-old camp counsellor was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison after admitting to producing and possessing child pornography, stemming from a child reporting that he filmed him in a bathroom.
    In January 2026, a former Expedia employee was sentenced to four years in prison for using spy cameras to record in office bathrooms.

    But it’s OK here? Where is the justice for this girl and her family? Think of the pain and aguish they went through and THIS is what they get? Our justice system is broken on so many levels I don’t even know where to begin!

  16. A slap on the wrist for a predator? Now this child knows that she may encounter this creep at any time on this tiny island and that she doesn’t matter in the eyes of the Judge. Every parent should be enraged.

  18. I am sick of men getting away with treating girls like sex toys. The most disturbing sentence in this story is: “A representative from the Cape & Island’s District Attorney’s Office was not immediately available to comment why Rose’s charges changed.” Why not? And if not immediately available, will the Times follow up with DA Gallibois to ask him to explain this deal that let a serial criminal and fraudster plead to a technicality and get a sweetheart deal for allegedly filming a nude minor? What possible justification could Judge Barnes or DA Gallibois have for this travesty? Since judges are ethically constrained from explaining their decisions publicly, if the Judge spoke through making a court record or through an opinion, then The Times should publish it. And The Times should certainly keep after the district attorney until he explains to his constituents, including the children of the Cape and Islands, why Rose was treated with kid gloves.

  20. I believe that the Times ought to publish a sampling of these comments in its nexrt edition, just in case the judge and the prosecutor and Rose, himself did not read them on line. I think the World at large needs to know that these types verdicts do not sit well with the American public. For the record, I am a moderate to liberal Dem.

    1. What a good idea. The Times could run them in conjunction with a story about the DA’s rationale for not seeking jail time and sex offender status.

  21. Sadly cases like this are why Trump won the election easily. We are tired of these liberal judges allowing monsters to roam freely on our streets without consequences. Hopefully people wake up and realize the evil at hand here by these liberal judges. Disgusting.

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