John Rose, the former Oak Bluffs fire chief who was at the center of sexual harassment scandal at the town’s department, is denying the allegations made by a teenage girl’s family accusing him of filming the minor in her bedroom through a secret camera.
Rose was sued in August by the girl in a civil case filed through her mother in Dukes County Superior Court that claimed invasion of privacy and infliction of emotional distress over the alleged incident. The family is seeking at least $1 million in compensatory damages.
Rose’s response was filed on Thursday and denies his knowledge of a hidden recording device. Both parties are demanding a jury trial. Rose was previously criminally charged with attempts to commit crimes related to the secret camera allegations, for which he pleaded not guilty. He admitted to sufficient facts in the criminal case and was given 14-months probation.
The civil complaint submitted in August states that in 2023 the daughter found a device that looked like a USB charging device that “contained a concealed camera lens with a small opening in its exterior” in her room in a “position toward the mirror in front of which she regularly changed her clothes.” According to the complaint, this occurred while she and her mother, who dated Rose, were living at Rose’s home in Vineyard Haven. Rose allegedly took the device and removed the memory card. The mother and daughter left Rose’s home shortly after and later contacted police, the complaint reads.
The daughter has since dealt with anxiety, fear, and humiliation, the complaint reads, especially as the case became public on the Island. It states that the daughter lost a sense of safety in a place where she expected privacy.
In the response, Rose denies that he was in a relationship with the mother at the time of the incident as well as any knowledge of a recording device. It also states Rose doesn’t know what occurred after the mother left with her children. In the response, Rose states that while he did see the device that looked like a USB charger, he denies that he took the memory chip.
The response states the family is not owed compensation from Rose since he isn’t responsible for the alleged actions. It also states the plaintiffs may not “recover duplicative damages … for the same alleged injury.”
Rose was arrested on Jan. 20, 2024 at Boston Logan International Airport for the allegations in the separate criminal case and pleaded not guilty of the charges in Edgartown District Court that August.
After Rose admitted to sufficient facts in March 23 of this year on two counts of attempt to commit a crime, one tied to secret surveillance of a nude or partially nude person and another to an attempt to pose or exhibit a child in a state of nudity, Judge Benjamin Barnes continued the case without a finding and placed him on 14 months of probation, which lasts through May 22, 2027.
According to local attorneys, an admission to sufficient facts means Rose admitted the prosecution had enough evidence to prove his guilt but wasn’t technically pleading guilty, so no trial was held. As the case continued without a finding, it will be dismissed if Rose successfully completes the probation.
A hearing hasn’t been scheduled yet for the civil case, and it is the latest in years of legal issues that have followed Rose. In 2020, Rose resigned as fire chief after Oak Bluffs settled a sexual harassment claim against him for $97,500. The FBI also probed Oak Bluffs, while he was chief, for overcharging the federal government in Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements for off-Island ambulance runs.
After he resigned as chief in Oak Bluffs, Rose was a part of Tisbury EMS in 2021 before he joined the West Tisbury Fire Department as a volunteer in 2022. He was suspended, however, in December 2023 after a harassment prevention order was issued against him.
