Sutton community meeting focuses on tribal officer’s arrest on child porn charges

SUTTON — About two dozen Sutton residents and representatives from Mat-Su Borough School District, the Sutton Community Council, Chickaloon Moose Creek Native Association and Alaska State Rep. George Rauscher gathered Tuesday at the Sutton Library to dig a little deeper into how a Chickaloon Peace Officer, currently facing felony child pornography charges, was employed in the first place.

Chickaloon Tribal Justice Department Director and peace officer Matthew Schwier was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service Aug. 22 in Palmer on three counts of sexual exploitation of a child-possession of child pornography. According to the Alaska Police Standards Council, the organization improperly certified Schwier as an Alaska police officer in May of 2015. The APSC listed Schwier as the tribal police chief for the Chickaloon Tribal Justice Department effective April 30, 2014.

Sutton resident Claudia Dolfi moderated the community meeting, and began the session by stating she had contacted four groups asking them to send representatives to the gathering. Included were the Chickaloon Village Traditional Council (CVTC), the MSBSD, Chugiak Children’s Services (CCS) and Sutton Elementary Principal Joshua Rockey. Reese Everett, the MSBSD executive director of instruction, joined Rockey in representing the school district at the session.

Rockey said representatives from CCS, which operates the Sutton-Palmer Head Start program in Sutton, had a previous engagement scheduled for the same evening and would be unable to attend. Chickaloon Village Traditional Council, which operates the tribal justice department and was responsible for hiring Schwier, did not send anyone to the meeting. When contacted after Schwier’s federal indictment, CTJD Executive Director Gary Hay said the community had no comment regarding Schwier’s arrest or on the pending charges.

Discussion continued for more than two hours on required certifications and background checks for Schwier’s position, how Schwier apparently “slipped through the cracks,” and what precautions can the schools take to secure children’s safety.

Because Schwier had reportedly served as a DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) officer in past Outside positions, and had visited Mat-Su schools in the past outside of that capacity, some in the audience expressed concerns. DARE is a national education program that utilizes predominantly law enforcement officers to visit schools and other youth-related venues. The program’s focus is to talk about prevention of drug use, gang membership, and violent behaviors such as bullying. Schwier had reportedly gone through the required DARE training program but whether or not he was ever certified is at question.

Everett said it was his understanding that because of significant state budget cuts, the DARE program had not been present in any MSBSD school for the past three years.

Dolfi said she had contacted the organization’s national headquarters and based on records going back to 1994, Schwier had never completed the certification process. Dolfi stated a thorough understanding of the program, and training information, is readily available online and said Schwier could have misled officials about his certification.

From the onset, many in the audience expressed displeasure over the fact that no CVTC representative had attended the meeting. Some felt that the absence was an admission of guilt and that the CVTC was attempting to cover up the facts.

Later in the meeting, several parents of elementary-aged children asked Rockey and Everett if the district could keep “questionable” individuals out of the school buildings and what protocols are involved in allowing volunteers and other visitors into schools. Everett said if a law enforcement officer enters a district facility wearing a badge and firearm, it’s assumed the officer has been properly vetted.

MSBSD Superintendent Monica Goyette said individual school administrators still have the final say in making such a determination.

There was also mention of Ya Ne Dah Ha School in Chickaloon. The school was the first tribally run facility in the state and serves area homeschool students. It is under the auspices of the CVTC and according to online sources, serves local students by supplementing their education with a mix of traditional Native teachings and classroom work. Goyette said while it is not an official borough school, it does receive some state funding through the district. According to online sources, the school’s official enrollment is 12. Some expressed concerns over those students’ safety as well.

Others suggested the school not allow anyone involved with the CVTC to enter schools until the Schwier issue is resolved. Since the CVTC has not discussed the issue or answered questions community members put before it, some residents sought an outright ban of anyone involved in the case. A few took it further and suggested a flat-out ban on volunteers until proper protocol could be put in place.

“That trust has been breached,” Dolphi said. “They need to rebuild that trust with us.”

According to a May 2016 CVTC internal/external posting for a tribal peace officer, “Tribal Peace Officers (TPOs) are dedicated, concerned citizens who assist their community in all aspects of public safety including but not limited to: search & rescue, emergency medical assistance, law enforcement, and crime prevention. These services are provided within the Chickaloon Village Traditional Council (CVTC) service area under the recommendation of the CVTC and the Justice Director.”

The posting stated that TPO’s must have valid Alaska certification and have worked in a sworn (law

enforcement) capacity on patrol for at least one year. Qualifications include up to three months related experience, and a high school diploma or GED. Alaska standards stipulate TPO’s must be at least 21 years old; not convicted of a felony; any misdemeanor within five years of the date of hire; a misdemeanor within 10 years of the date of hire, if the misdemeanor involved an assault against a family member, former family member, member of the individual’s household, or former member of the household or the violation of a domestic violence restraining order; or have two or more DWI/DUI offenses or one within the last five years.

Candidates must not have been discharged for cause or resigned under threat of discharge for cause from employment as a tribal peace officer, village police officer, or a police officer in this state or any other state. They must also pass a state and federal background check, psychological test, and physical requirements.

The above paragraph from the job posting is what seems to be in question. Although the APSC stated it incorrectly certified Schwier, it didn’t base it on his qualifications or lack of them—although the report clearly makes Schwier a questionable candidate at best. It nixed the certification, according to the report, because it lacked “…authority and jurisdiction to certify officers of the (CTJD) as police officers (because) that agency does not fall within Alaska’s statutory definition of a police department.”

The APSC report went on to say that “…personal history statement forms filed with APSC are misrepresentations, obfuscations, or prevarications of the facts surrounding (previous job separations). In light of his answers to the subsequent questions on his (state police related forms), APSC staff finds that his statements are blatant misrepresentations, intended to minimize his exposure to the facts and circumstances (of previous job separations) and the impact it would have on any application and certification process.”

Although not many answers were provided as a result of Tuesday night’s meeting, it put into motion plans to prevent such a shortfall from happening again. Dolphi said the community will continue to try and find out how the shortfall came to be and what can be done about it. She was unsure if that included additional community meetings.

“We need to come together, figure out where the holes were and make it better,” Dolphi said. “We had a chance to air our frustrations. In the end, it’s really sad. The community came together to heal and get some answers on how to put things into play so something like this doesn’t happen again.”

Contact reporter Chris Ford at 352-2270 or chris.ford@frontiersman.com