MANSFIELD — The Town Council says it will review employee access to municipal security data following an investigation into former Town Manager Ryan Aylesworth’s monitoring of library cameras.
In its October 2 statement, the council said it received attorney Jennifer Dixon’s final report September 28. The investigation began after an April 7 whistleblower complaint alleged the cameras were being used to monitor the library director for reasons unrelated to normal business.
The council said the reviewed evidence supported Aylesworth’s explanation that most of his monitoring concerned another employee’s performance. Its account also acknowledged camera movements following the library director. The mayor’s September 8 statement said the investigator found no violation of town policy, professional ethics standards or law.
The town’s detailed timeline distinguishes an initial draft received May 21, an expanded inquiry and another draft received July 8 from the final September report. The council said the expanded inquiry found no earlier formal or informal sexual-harassment complaints. These are attributed investigation findings, not a criminal conviction or a determination that every management decision was appropriate.
Aylesworth announced his resignation September 8; the council’s October 2 explanation says it accepted the resignation September 14. Steven Daly was appointed interim town manager, with the existing contract scheduled to expire at October’s end. The council said it would assess the position then and pursue a permanent replacement.
WFSB’s October 5 report describes residents’ concerns about the investigation and the town’s costs. It also carries Aylesworth’s response that he accessed cameras for legitimate employee-performance and safety purposes and denies sexual harassment.
The original redacted investigator report was linked by the town but exceeded the retrieval tool’s file-size limit. This article therefore attributes the findings to the council’s published explanation and the mayor’s statement. Specific financial totals remain outside this report pending review of the underlying contract and expenditure records. The reviewed sources do not establish whether a revised camera-access policy has since been adopted.