City Councilor turns up heat on board to join in Lachance resignation push

City Councilors Jeremy Hutchinson, left, and Doug Lachance. In middle, a copy of a post on Hutchinson's Facebook page.

ROCHESTER - A Rochester city councilor is stepping up the pressure on fellow council members to call for the resignation of Doug Lachance by listing their names and the wards they serve on his personal Facebook page.
City Councilor Jeremy Hutchinson, who last month proposed an ethics commission that could seek the removal of a public official, also posted contact information for the City Council and listed a brief explanation of the sex assault accusations made against Lachance.
Hutchinson and fellow councilor Palana Belken are the only two councilors who have called for Lachance to step down. The others have had no comment except for James Gray, who called on police and prosecutors to decide as quickly as possible if charges should be brought forward from a 2007 case.
Accusations of sex assault aimed at the 57-year-old Lachance are again being investigated by police, who say they were contacted by the main complainant about a month ago.
Andy Brooks, 37, of Colorado, who grew up in Rochester, alleges Lachance made inappropriate sexual advances to him when he was a teenager.
Strafford County Attorney Tom Velardi told The Rochester Voice on Wednesday that the reason the case was dropped in 2007 was because the main complainant - represented as Brooks in police documents from 2007 - decided not to move forward with what would have likely been a long and difficult trial for a misdemeanor case.
Lachance has issued several denials the abuse occurred and declined further comment.
Meanwhile, a Seacoast attorney said that while the 2007 charges as presented did not constitute a felony according to Velardi at the time, that doesn't rule out that elevated felony charges might be considered now.
"If additional accusations that fit under another statute apply now, that might bring a more severe charge," said Durham attorney Stuart Dedopoulos.
He said prosecutors will have to go back and pore over the 2007 statutes to determine what, if any, charges might be forthcoming.
Velardi has declined comment on the case as it is again active.
In Hutchinson's post he states, "While the criminal case is ongoing, we believe enough evidence has been brought to life to call on Councilor Lachance to resign."

Hutchinson was not immediately available for comment for this story.