A GoFundMe fundraising effort has been established to help the Peréa-Roberson family cope with the challenges of dealing with the incident involving their child.

By Eileen Qiu

Tense pauses, stutters and silence fell over last Thursday’s Legislative Matters Committee meeting as City Council members discussed the city seeking to overturn a ruling from the Public Records Office that will let parents acquire records for their child, who was accused of inappropriately touching a classmate. 

Flavia Perea and Sean Robinson’s son was accused of the act in 2019. They said they were entitled to the records according to the public documents attached to the meeting’s agenda.

Perea and Robinson requested the report twice and were rejected by the city each time, citing “It’s prohibited by law from releasing any incident report.”

The parents reasoned in a letter from Supervisor of Records Rebecca Murray that there was no crime committed due to their child being only six-years-old and therefore there is no victim.

“Given the nature of this matter, we are unable to discuss the substance of it beyond the four corners of the complaint,” said Solicitor Francis Wright. “I will note that we have in the past appealed a decision of the Supervisor of Public Records”

When asked if he could articulate the city’s reasons, Wright responded “No” and “Not at this time, given the nature of it”. He said the city believes the documents don’t fit the definition of a public record. “We don’t agree with the supervisor’s decision that the record should be produced,” Wright said.

Ward 6 Councilor Lance Davis made it known he was not comfortable with the city using public resources to contest the supervisor’s decision. He was hoping for a legal argument as to why the records could not be released and called the city’s position “abhorrent.” The councilors, however, do not have a vote on whether or not to challenge it, he said.

Ward 5 Councilor Mark Niedergang agreed with Davis and said the case is something that has “stained the city’s reputation.” Niedergang said the administration is usually in favor of transparency and the arguments he saw for keeping the records private were not compelling to him. “This looks really bad for the city and for the administration,” Niedergang said. “My feeling is it’s always just easier to give them the information and let’s move on”

The city has the right to appeal this decision and to generally protect people’s privacy, Solicitor Wright said.

A GoFundMe fundraiser has been set up for the Peréa-Roberson family. The funds will help cover costs associated with legal fees, expungement of law enforcement, child welfare, and school conduct records, as well as for mental health resources. Donors can contribute by going online to: https://www.gofundme.com/f/justice-for-the-roberson-perea-family-and-son.

Other points of discussion in the meeting included automated speed enforcement in school zones and the vote to move forward with a Home Rule Petition to provide legal voting rights in municipal elections for non-citizen residents in Somerville.

The next meeting of the committee will be held on October 7 at 6:00 p.m.