A United States Secret Service employee stationed on Martha’s Vineyard has been suspended from his post after he was charged with criminal harassment and witness intimidation in Edgartown District Court last week.
Douglas Vines, 53, of Edgartown, pleaded not guilty Thursday, Oct. 6 to a July 1 charge in Oak Bluffs of criminal harassment, as well as a Sept. 27 charge in Oak Bluffs of intimidating a witness. The Hon. Edward Lynch ordered Mr. Vines released on personal recognizance with a bail warning, according to court records. Further conditions include staying 100 yards away from and having no contact with the alleged victim.
A spokesman from the U.S. Secret Service confirmed that Mr. Vines was employed by the agency. The spokesman said that Mr. Vines had been placed on administrative leave as a result of the charges, and that the agency had suspended his security clearance, as well as restricted him from accessing any Secret Service facility or protected site.
“The United States Secret Service is aware of the allegations made against an Investigative Protection Officer,” the spokesman said. “We have extraordinarily high ethical standards and the allegations are very concerning.”
According to court records, the charges stem from an incident on Sept. 27 at approximately 5 p.m., when a woman arrived at the Oak Bluffs police station in tears and told officers that Mr. Vines had used his status as a Secret Service employee to intimidate, harass and threaten her with deportation if she did not comply with his demands, including sex. The woman told police that Vines secretly recorded her talking about her immigration status, threatened to “ping” or wire her phone and took nude photos of her without her knowledge during the course of their two to three-month relationship, a police report states.
The police report was compiled by Officer Savanna Barnes.
Photos of text messages sent from Mr. Vines to the woman included in the police report show him writing that he has “all the pictures and videos” and that he could read all of the woman’s texts. Another text that is partially redacted shows an image Mr. Vines sent to the woman with the word “DNA” underneath. The woman stated in the report that Mr. Vines called her to shout at her and texted her that she was “messing with the wrong person.”
“Vines is a driver for the Obama family, and, according to [the woman], used that position to intimidate [her], while attempting to get her to come back out and have sex with him,” the report states.
The police report states that Oak Bluffs officers confirmed Mr. Vines' employment status with other Secret Service staff. They arrested Mr. Vines later on Sept. 27 and seized his Glock pistol, as well as ammunition, according to the report. The Hon. Benjamin Barnes issued a temporary restraining order against Mr. Vines later that night, according to the report.
In a separate police report filed in court, the woman stated that Mr. Vines also engaged in a non-consensual sex act with her, although no sexual assault charges have been filed against Mr. Vines. The incident occurred earlier in the summer and involved alcohol, the woman said in the report.
“She thought she might have been raped because she...told him to stop, but he didn’t,” the report states in part.
According to the report, police said that sexual assault charges had not been filed at the discretion of the victim.
The report also states that Mr. Vines often drove by her house and requested that the woman move to Maryland to be with him “24/7.”
Mr. Vines is next due in court on Dec. 19 for a pretrial hearing.
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