Hartford Deputy Chief Lenny Roberts at a forum in White River Junction, Vt., on Jan. 24, 2012. (Valley News - Theophil Syslo) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
Hartford Deputy Chief Lenny Roberts at a forum in White River Junction, Vt., on Jan. 24, 2012. (Valley News - Theophil Syslo) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Credit: Valley News file photograph

Hartford — The Vermont Attorney General’s Office won’t file criminal charges against Hartford police Maj. Leonard Roberts, though it says it has probable cause to believe the deputy police chief physically assaulted his estranged wife in July.

The Attorney General’s Office reviewed two alleged incidents, the first involving one of the Roberts’ sons in 2012 and the other involving Rebel Roberts, who filed a restraining order against her husband in August, about two weeks after she filed for divorce.

“On July 30, 2016, Roberts’ wife said that he grabbed her arm causing her pain while the two were engaged in an altercation,” Assistant Attorney General Ultan Doyle wrote in a Dec. 23 letter to Vermont State Police, notifying them that the state wouldn’t file charges. “There is probable cause to believe Roberts committed the offense of misdemeanor domestic assault. However, our office has determined that there is not sufficient evidence for a jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed this offense.”

With that said, if new information becomes available, the state would review it and perhaps reconsider its decision not to file charges, the letter said.

The Attorney General’s Office also said it could have charged Roberts with felony domestic assault in connection with an alleged August 2012 incident involving one of their sons if the incident had occurred more recently.

Roberts is accused of punching his son in the back of the head, causing him to black out for about 30 seconds, Doyle, the assistant attorney general, wrote in the letter. No charges could be filed because of the statute of limitations, the letter said.

“Had this incident occurred within the statutory time period, this office could have charged Roberts with felony domestic assault,” the letter said.

The documents Vermont State Police provided to the Attorney General’s Office to consider whether to charge Roberts “raised serious concerns” about his “behavior and temperament in his interactions with his family,” Doyle wrote. “This investigation revealed evidence that Roberts has been both emotionally and physically abusive to family members.”

Roberts, who is the deputy chief of the field operations division in Hartford, declined to provide statements to investigators on either incident, and also allegedly told a relative that if his alleged conduct was reported, no one would believe the report, the letter said.

Messages left for Leonard Roberts, 60, and Rebel Roberts, 52, weren’t returned.

The Roberts’ divorce was finalized on Aug. 25, according to documents filed in Orange Superior Court in Chelsea, and Rebel Roberts withdrew her complaint and affidavit for the relief from abuse order about three weeks after she filed it.

Those documents are sealed, a court clerk said Friday.

Hartford Police Chief Phil Kasten said Roberts, a 35-year veteran of the department, remains on paid administrative leave.

The Hartford Police Department is currently performing an administrative investigation.

“The matter remains open,” Kasten said in an email Friday evening. “Maj. Roberts will remain on administrative leave until that process has concluded.”

Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.