Samantha Pelrine and the quiet shock inside a Plymouth courtroom

samantha pelrine is now at the center of a case unfolding through court documents in Plymouth District Court, where a protection order has been filed accusing a Plymouth police officer and her husband of sexual and physical abuse over several years. The paper trail is stark, and the human reality behind it is even harder to hold: a victim who wrote they were scared for their safety.
What do court documents say about Samantha Pelrine and Daniel Forand?
Court documents describe a relationship that began through community ties and ended with a legal wall of separation. A protection order against Samantha Pelrine and her husband, Daniel Forand, 37, was filed on March 17 in Plymouth District Court. The documents accuse the couple of sexually and physically abusing a victim for several years.
An affidavit filed in court states the victim told authorities that the couple were friends with the victim’s aunt through church, and that the abuse began after the victim was taken to live in the couple’s home in Plymouth. The victim had been living with their aunt and grandmother until the age of 12, when Samantha Pelrine and Daniel Forand took care of them. A year later, the couple became the victim’s legal guardians.
The documents state the couple sexually abused the victim after guardianship was granted and continued until 2025. The victim also said Daniel Forand physically abused them until 2026, while Samantha Pelrine did not physically abuse the victim. In the affidavit, the victim wrote: “They are looking for me, and I am scared for my safety. ”
The victim left the residence in February. The restraining order prohibits Pelrine and Forand from having any contact with the victim and requires them to remain at least 100 yards away at all times. Both are scheduled to appear in Plymouth District Court on March 27 for a hearing.
Why was the Plymouth police officer placed on leave, and who is investigating?
Plymouth police officer Samantha Pelrine, 31, has been placed on paid administrative leave while authorities investigate. Plymouth police said the leave was handled in line with department policies and procedures, adding that “Violations of department policy or state law will not be tolerated. ”
No officials are commenting on the ongoing investigation. Plymouth police and Massachusetts State Police deferred questions to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office. A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office said it was not appropriate to comment at this time.
Information about lawyers representing Pelrine and Forand was not available late Tuesday.
How does a case like this collide with the public image of policing?
The allegations land with extra force because they involve an officer sworn to enforce the law—and because the documents describe a victim who was not a stranger, but a child taken into a home and later placed under guardianship. In cases shaped by protection orders and affidavits, a community often learns about the private world of a household through the formal language of the courts. Here, that language includes the victim’s fear, spelled out in a sentence that reads less like legal testimony and more like a person trying to stay safe.
Samantha Pelrine is a Plymouth native who was hired by the police department in April 2022. A 2023 Facebook post from the police department included comments attributed to her about why she chose the job and what she hoped to do with it: she said she felt a career in police work was right for her, and she hoped she could make a positive impact on people’s lives.
That public-facing statement—about wanting to help—now sits in uneasy proximity to the court record describing accusations of sexual abuse, a protection order, and an investigation that officials are declining to discuss in detail.
What happens next in Plymouth District Court?
The next clear waypoint is procedural but consequential: the scheduled court appearance on March 27 in Plymouth District Court for a hearing. Until then, the protection order’s terms set boundaries meant to prevent contact and keep physical distance between the accused and the victim.
Beyond that, the public is likely to receive information in limited, formal increments. The Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office has said it is not appropriate to comment at this time, and Plymouth police have indicated the department is treating the leave as a policy-driven step while the case is investigated.
For the victim, the timeline described in the court documents stretches across formative years and ends, for now, with leaving the residence in February and asking the court for protection in March. For the community, the timeline is only beginning to surface—one filing, one order, one hearing date at a time.
Back in the same courthouse where the protection order was filed, the allegations against samantha pelrine are no longer just a private claim—they are a public legal action with a date on the calendar. Between now and the March 27 hearing, the quietest detail may be the most revealing: the victim’s written fear, and the distance—100 yards—set by the court to turn that fear into something enforceable.




