“Matt wants to thank all of the people who have supported him through this,” said Petro. “He’s sorry for any adversity caused by this matter.”
Ulster Town Board member John Morrow confirmed that there had been some informal discussion about re-introducing the police cadet program, but the matter was never officially brought before the Town Board. Quigley, meanwhile, said that the idea had never made it past the “conceptual” stage based on liability concerns stemming from an earlier incident in which a youth was present in a police vehicle during a high-speed chase.
“There was substantial non-support in the board because of incidents that had happened in the past that raised some liability issues,” said Quigley.
Feds neither confirm nor deny
Carnright, meanwhile, declined to detail any allegations against Taggard or whether the alleged sex crimes that the former chief supposedly knew of and did not report had ever been investigated or prosecuted. Carnright did say that his office had cooperated with the FBI during the course of the investigation. Federal law significantly extends, and in some cases eliminates entirely, the statute of limitations on a number of crimes against children. According to Carnright, officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York were aware of the investigation. Albany-based Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Coombe acknowledged that the office was aware of the case but declined to say whether any action had been taken.
“We can neither confirm nor deny the existence of any investigation,” said Coombe.
