LYNN — A postal worker charged with assaulting a Hanover Street woman last month must remain confined to his home and must stay away from the woman for at least one year.
Gregory Gillette, 30, of Lynn, was free on $5,000 bail when he reported to a hearing at Lynn District Court on Friday. He previously pleaded not guilty on Aug. 23 to charges of open and gross lewdness and indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over.
Following a review of police reports and text messages, Gillette was assigned $5,000 cash bail on Aug. 24, ordered to home confinement with GPS monitoring, and given an order to have no contact with the woman.
Judge James LaMothe on Friday extended the harassment protection order taken out against Gillette to at least September 2019.
In a report filed in court, police said the victim told officers she was friendly with Gillette. The pair communicated through social media, and she previously offered him water and allowed him to use her bathroom. On Aug. 22, after telling the woman he had a package for her, Gillette cornered her against a wall “and began aggressively grabbing her and kissing her neck,” according to the report.
The woman told police Gillette put his hands down her pants, grabbed her breasts and exposed his penis. Police advised her to seek a restraining order and tracked Gillette down on his postal route, arresting him on Baker Street.
During Friday’s hearing, Gillette’s attorney, Kevin James, questioned the victim’s recollection of the Aug. 22 incident and said there is no photographic evidence of the assault.
“You alleged he pushed and shoved you. You said he cornered you. You didn’t have any bruising on you,” James told her.
The victim told LaMothe that Gillette tried to drag her to a bathroom over her objections. Her attorney, Michael Dwyer, told the judge she “is in total fear for her life.”
“Of all the people in the world you think you can trust, it’s the people you see who hand you mail,” Dwyer said.
In the initial restraining order, filed on Aug. 22, the woman quoted Gillette as saying, “‘I thought you wanted to have some fun,'” to which she added, “I tried nicely to say, ‘I’m not ready for that stuff.'”
Postal Service spokesman Stephen Doherty said Gillette was hired as an entry-level postal worker in 2013 and started working full time three years ago.
“He is still on the rolls but not working at this point,” Doherty said.
Gillette is scheduled to return to court for a pre-trial hearing on Sept. 27.
