[V]ermont State Police have cited former Burlington police lieutenant Arthur Cyr, who once oversaw child abuse investigations in the city, on suspicion of felony lewd or lascivious conduct with a juvenile female under 16 years old.
The juvenile under the age of 16 reported that Cyr had touched her inappropriately on New Year’s Eve in 2016 at a residence in Bristol, nine months after he retired from the police force.
Cyr was cited and released on Wednesday for lewd or lascivious conduct with a child, which carries a penalty of two to 15 years and up to $5,000 in fines.
From May 2008 until January 2010, Cyr was in charge of the Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations, which was responsible for child abuse investigations, according to a statement released by the Burlington Police Department.
“An allegation like this against a retired police officer will always be painful and disappointing, but given Art Cyr’s prior role of supervising the county’s child abuse investigations, it is especially troubling,” Brandon del Pozo, Burlington’s police chief, said in the statement.
“I am confident that the Vermont State Police has conducted a thorough and impartial investigation that has treated Mr. Cyr like anyone else, and that will help get to the bottom of the allegation,” he added.
The Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations received the complaint against the retired officer in late 2018 and passed it to it’s “sister unit,” the Northern Unit For Special Investigations.
A state police trooper ultimately investigated the incident with the Vermont Department for Children and Families and the Addison County State’s Attorney’s Office, according to a state police statement. The investigation started Dec. 14, 2018.
Cyr was also previously head of the Burlington Police Department’s crisis negotiation unit. He retired in March 2016 and is now listed on the state employee directory as working for the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living.
A call to a landline number listed for Cyr went unanswered.
Cyr is set to appear at 2 p.m. on January 28 at state court in Middlebury.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Arthur Cyr is accused of lewd conduct committed three months before he retired. The alleged incident occurred nine months after his retirement as a police officer.
