Editor's note: This story was updated at 1:07 p.m. on Thursday, August 6, 2026, to correct Terence Kent's status with the Massachusetts State Police.

Middlesex County prosecutors moved Wednesday to drop criminal charges against a former Massachusetts State Police trooper who had been accused of pressuring a man to perform a sex act on him in exchange for agreeing not to tow his car.

The charges were dropped just days before the start of Terence Kent's trial on charges of accepting/soliciting a bribe as a public employee and indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over.

Spokespeople for the district attorney's office did not return a request for comment sent Wednesday morning. Kent's defense lawyer, David Yannetti, declined to comment.

Kent was originally set to be tried in June, but the case was pushed back at the last minute. The delay came after prosecutors revealed to Kent's lawyers that the man Kent was accused of assaulting had been a suspect in an unrelated sexual assault case while Kent's case was pending.

Prosecutors say Boston police closed that investigation without bringing charges.

Court records show prosecutors filed an affidavit from the man along with the formal notice closing the case. MassLive could not immediately obtain a copy of the document.

Kent had been accused of pressuring a man to perform oral sex on him in exchange for agreeing not to tow his car over an expired registration and insurance in August 2024. Prosecutors say that after an initial encounter in Brighton, Kent led the man to a salt shed in Lexington, where they both began touching themselves.

When Kent asked the man for oral sex, he refused, according to court documents. But prosecutors say he followed up, telling the man, "I'm taking care of you, you're going to take care of me."

Kent had been suspended without pay from the State Police following his indictment in March 2025. He resigned from the department and was dishonorably discharged in August 2025.

Before the criminal case, Kent had previously been suspended in 2023 for abandoning his assigned post.

Mass. judge finds State Police engaged in pattern of records law violations

Mother of Mass. trooper sues restaurant; claims driver over-served before fatal crash

2 indicted for Holyoke's 1st homicide of 2026

Read the original article on MassLive. Add MassLive as a Preferred Source by clicking here.