DA: Farmingville Fire Department EMT Mason Maguire charged with sexually assaulting co co-worker
The rear view of the Farmingville Fire Department Firehouse in July. Credit: Newsday/James Carbone
A Farmingville Fire Department EMT was charged Thursday with sexually abusing a female co-worker during a July 4 shift earlier this year at the firehouse and then forcibly preventing her from leaving after the incident, Suffolk County prosecutors said.
Mason Maguire, 26, of Centereach, was indicted in Riverhead on charges of felony first-degree sexual abuse and two misdemeanors: forcible touching and second-degree unlawful imprisonment, records show.
Maguire pleaded not guilty and acting State Supreme Court Justice Karen Wilutis held the EMT on $10,000 cash or $30,000 bond, records indicate.
"The badge and uniform of a first responder are symbols of trust, service and protection — not a shield for sexual abuse," Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said. "This defendant is accused of violating a co-worker in the very place where she should have been able to feel safe. That betrayal is disgraceful and an affront to every first responder who answers the call to serve."
Maguire faces up to 7 years in prison if convicted on the top count, which is a registerable sex offense.
Paul Seres, Maguire's Kings Park-based defense attorney, declined to comment.
Prosecutors contend that on July 4, shortly before 12:30 a.m., Maguire arrived at the department headquarters on Horseblock Road in Farmingdale despite not being scheduled to work.
While there, Maguire allegedly sexually abused a female co-worker, and then physically prevented her from attempting to leave the room by grabbing her arms and twisting them behind her back, prosecutors said.
Maguire was arrested by Suffolk County police on a misdemeanor charge four days later.
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office’s Public Corruption Bureau then launched a full investigation of the alleged incident and prosecutors secured a grand jury indictment against Maguire on additional charges, authorities said.
Leadership at the fire department did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.
Maguire is due back in court on Nov. 25.
The Farmingville Fire Department has found itself in the headlines in recent weeks.
Newsday reported last month that fire department officials had allegedly altered surveillance video of a Medford woman who was reportedly struck by an SUV in the agency's parking lot — a high-ranking Farmingville official — last year to avoid responsibility for her injuries, according to a lawsuit filed by the estate of the now-deceased woman.
The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, names the fire department, Chief Vincent J. Purpi and Commissioners George Munoz, Robert Wallace, Edward Stewart III and John Caputo as defendants.
Last week, Newsday reported that Stewart does not live in the district as required by state law, despite claiming volunteer firefighter exemptions for his home in the Holtsville Fire District since the 2018-19 tax year, Town of Brookhaven property tax records show.
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
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