A State Police trooper awaiting trial on rape and assault charges allegedly boasted about his GPS ankle bracelet and sent texts threatening to “bury” the former girlfriend — also a state trooper — who had come forward against him, prosecutors say.
Now, prosecutors are asking for severe restrictions on Robert Sundberg’s continued release, according to court documents unsealed Monday — documents that allege a pattern of violence and erratic behavior in recent years.
Although other troopers have defended Sundberg, prosecutors say his actions since making bail on the two initial charges in April cast doubt on whether his continued freedom is safe for his former girlfriend or the public.
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Originally arraigned on assault and strangulation charges in Ayer District Court in April, Sundberg was subsequently indicted by a Middlesex grand jury, and arraigned again earlier this month.
He faces 14 criminal counts, including two counts of rape and one count each of assault with intent to rape, strangulation or suffocation, and stalking, along with various assault and battery charges.
Sundberg has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer, Edward P. Ryan Jr., did not return calls or e-mails on Monday. In a motion filed Aug. 11, Ryan called the motion seeking new bail conditions “replete with unfair characterizations, opinions and conclusions of the prosecutor not supported by the evidence.”
At his bail hearing in Ayer in April, several fellow State Police troopers described him as likable, and downplayed the abuse they had witnessed.
But Sundberg’s behavior while out on bail suggests he does not take the charges against him seriously, prosecutors say: Despite limits on alcohol set as a condition of his release, Sundberg texted photos of nip bottles of alcohol to a friend and conversed about bars.
At the gym, prosecutors say, Sundberg showed off the GPS monitoring bracelet strapped to his ankle, bragging about his “new jewelry.” And in a text message to another friend, he allegedly threatened to have his former girlfriend’s children taken away if she continued to pursue the charges.
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The prosecution’s motion, made public Monday after a judge denied the defense’s request to impound the case, paints a bleak picture of the nearly six-year relationship between Sundberg and the woman, whose name is redacted from court records. The motion was filed by Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Suzanne Kontz.
While at work, prosecutors allege, Sundberg would blow into his portable breath-test device and text photos of the readings to friends as a joke — 0.168, in one case, more than twice the legal limit. A friend of Sundberg allegedly testified that he “always drank to get drunk.”
That drunkenness allegedly fueled long-running physical and emotional abuse against the woman he was dating, prosecutors allege — a pattern that depicts a near textbook case of an abusive relationship.
Sundberg’s “verbal and emotional abuse lowered her self-esteem,” prosecutors wrote. “His jealousy and controlling behavior drove away friends . . . he repeatedly abused her, both physically and sexually to the point where she wanted to end the relationship, then reeled her back in with promises to live together, to get a house together, to help her with the kids, to do all of the things that he knew she wanted.”
In December 2010, shortly after their relationship began, Sundberg allegedly flew into a rage when he found the woman talking to her sister on the phone late one night. He assaulted her, dragged her into the bedroom and demanded sex, assaulting her digitally as he tried to remove her underwear.
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That, prosecutors allege, was just the beginning: Several months later, he allegedly punched her in the chest and face. In 2012, he allegedly smashed her windshield.
In 2015, he attempted to rape her until he passed out drunk; after the police had come and gone, he allegedly assaulted her and then raped her. And in October 2015, at a Somerville bar, he allegedly grabbed her by the neck and squeezed, then continued the assault once they got home.
After he allegedly attempted to rape her in February, 2016, the woman called a supervisor but hung up without leaving a message.
Prosecutors say Sundberg allegedly discovered the phone call later and threatened to harm both her and a police officer whom she was going to contact for assistance.
The prosecutors’ request also suggests Sundberg used their shared vocation as leverage, holding the fact that she — a state trooper herself — had allowed this to happen against her; checking her phone to see if she had spoken to male co-workers; and telling her that he would lose his job and pension if she went forward with charges.
The woman is not named in the unsealed records. At a hearing in April, she testified that she did not seek to have him prosecuted sooner because she was concerned about his children. Both Sundberg and his former girlfriend have children from previous relationships.
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Prosecutors are seeking an order that would put Sundberg’s GPS monitor in “lockdown mode,” restricting his freedom to employment, medical and legal appointments. Among other conditions, he would have to submit to random drug and alcohol screens, and have no contact with the former girlfriend.
“No conditions of release could reasonably assure the safety of the victim and/or the community EXCEPT the GPS bracelet in lockdown mode with limited windows and other condition,” prosecutors wrote.
Nestor Ramos can be reached at nestor.ramos@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @NestorARamos.