A first-term Haverhill School Committee member was arrested Tuesday night by Haverhill Police and charged with alleged indecent assault and battery on a teenage boy.
Cheryl A. Ferguson, 59, who represents Ward 3 on the School Committee, was arrested sometime after 7:45 p.m., after the teenager’s mother told police her son was wearing a Halloween mask and standing outside of the 7-Eleven convenience store on Dudley Street, off Main Street, when Ferguson approached him. A police report said, Ferguson allegedly “proceeded to grope his buttocks.” On her way out of the store, police also allege, she again approached him, “this time, grabbing, at his chest area stating ‘oh, you have nipples.’”
After the teen asked Ferguson to leave, the report continued, she allegedly called him a “creep.” Police quoted the family as saying the action made him feel “shocked and violated” and “uncomfortable.”
Police met with Ferguson at her Dudley Street home. A police report quotes Ferguson as saying she was playing Keno, left the store and “poked” the teen on the chest, saying he was “scary.” She denied any other interaction with the minor.
Ferguson was arraigned Wednesday in Haverhill District Court and later released on her own personal recognizance and ordered to stay away from the minor and anyone else below the age of 18, adhere to a 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew and return to court in December.
According to court records, Ferguson was found guilty of driving while under the influence of liquor, second offense, in 2018, and lost her license for three months. She was also arrested previously for assault and battery in 2019 and other motor vehicle-related charges.