Criminal Justice Faculty

Deborah P. Boyack, Assistant Professor

dboyack@mwcc.mass.edu
M.S. Western New England College
M.A. Mount Ida College

Debbie Boyack started her career in Criminal Justice in 1989 with the Plymouth County District Attorney’s office as a victim witness advocate working with victims of violent crime. She went on to become a juvenile probation officer with the Boston Juvenile Court. Debbie worked closely with the Honorable Francis G. Poitrast to transform the juvenile justice system, moving juvenile courts out of the district courts in Barnstable, Plymouth, and Norfolk Counties. Debbie went on to train in domestic violence counseling and held a position with Spectrum Health Services counseling court ordered domestic violence offenders. From domestic violence counseling Debbie continued her career with the Worcester County Juvenile Court as a court investigator investigating child abuse cases under MGL chapter 119.

Throughout her career Debbie has worked with both victims and offenders as well as with families and at risk youth. In addition to teaching Criminal Justice, Debbie teaches both Sociology and Yoga philosophy. Debbie has a 500-hour yoga certification, is an IAYT-certified yoga therapist, and has taught yoga and mindfulness for the past 25 years.

Debbie believes strongly in rehabilitation and restorative justice. She has used her expertise in yoga to help at risk youth as well as violent offenders cope with concentration, anxiety and anger.

James Bigelow, Associate Professor, Program Chair

jbigelow5@mwcc.mass.edu
M.A. Anna Maria College, Criminal Justice
B.A. Holy Cross, History

Jim Bigelow retired as a lieutenant from the Massachusetts State Police after twenty-four years of service.  He spent sixteen years of his career in the Division of Investigative Services, where he was assigned as an investigator and supervisor in the State Police Detective Unit for Worcester County.

As a supervisor assigned to the narcotics unit, Jim provided direct oversight of thousands of criminal investigations, undercover operations,  and tactical narcotics raids.  While a member of the detective unit, he also supervised and participated in a variety of felony investigations including homicides, armed robberies, missing persons, weapons offenses, and organized crime. Jim has provided testimony in both United States District Court and the Superior Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, where he testified on numerous occasions as an expert witness in the field of narcotics trafficking and distribution. Throughout his career, Jim worked with numerous federal, state, and local agencies, including the FBI, DEA, ATF, United States Marshal’s Service, and Customs and Border Patrol.  He also served in assignments in Troop C and at General Headquarters. He has been a member of several professional organizations throughout his career including the New England Narcotics Enforcement Officers Association, the National Technical Investigators Association, and the American Association of State Troopers.

Jim has taught narcotics classes to both police and civilian audiences and has attended training nationwide in a variety of law enforcement subjects, including homicide investigation, narcotics interdiction, hostage negotiations, tactical enforcement, technical investigations, money laundering,  weapons offenses, and incident command.

A Distinguished Military Graduate of the Army ROTC program, Jim also served as a Captain in the United States Army Military Police Corps and is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm.

Katherine Passarelli (Wahrer), Adjunct Professor

kwahrer@mwcc.mass.edu
B.A. Stonehill College, Psychology and Criminology
M.A. University of Albany, SUNY, Criminal Justice

The Scarborough, Maine native discovered her passion for psychology, criminal justice and teaching at Stonehill College in Easton, MA where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Criminology. Inspired by her professor Dr. Twyman-Ghoshal, she focused her research studies on human trafficking, which lead her to an internship at ASTRA in Belgrade, Serbia where she worked on a variety of action initiatives against human trafficking in that country. In 2016 and 2017 she was a LION Scholar for conducting independent research in Belgrade, Serbia and Yerevan, Armenia, about anti-trafficking actions.  In 2017 Stonehill College named her Criminology Student of the Year.

Following her graduation from Stonehill, Passarelli earned her master’s in criminal justice at the University of Albany, State University of New York where she is now a doctoral candidate. As a research assistant for the John Finn Institute for Public Safety, she helped code police body worn cameras for projects that examined supervised coaching, instruction, and police performance.

Currently she is a supervisor for the PULSE Lab in Albany, NY, where she researches psychological theory to understand criminal justice and legal issues, particularly those affecting vulnerable and victimized populations. Some previous work includes understanding the medical misdiagnosis of child abuse, specifically the effects of race and involvement with child protective services and the effects of dehumanization and disgust language on immigration attitudes through a sentiment analysis of Twitter.

Adjunct Professor Passarelli will be teaching Criminal Procedure, Introduction to Criminology and Criminal Investigation during the spring and 7-week accelerated semesters.

Michael McHugh, Adjunct Faculty

m_mchugh@mwcc.mass.edu
J.D. Western New England College, School of Law
M.A. Pennsylvania State University
B.A. University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Michael McHugh has worked for 38 years with the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office before his retirement in 2022. He is currently a member of the Felony Unit in Worcester Superior Court that prosecutes all the felonies in Worcester County, which includes the following crimes: Murders, Home Invasions, Masked, Armed and Un-Armed Robberies, Aggravated Assaults and Burglaries.He was appointed an Assistant District Attorney in 1991 and worked in Worcester, Fitchburg, and Gardner District Courts prosecuting misdemeanor and concurrent felony cases in the six-member jury sessions associated with those courts for six years. He was promoted to the Superior Court in 1997 and was a member of the Drug Unit. He worked many drug cases with retired Mass State Police Lt. James Bigelow, who is also a member of the MWCC staff and who was a member of the Worcester DA’s State Police Detective Unit. He worked in the Worcester DA’s Drug Unit from 1997 to 2006, prosecuting Drug Trafficking and Drug Distribution cases. He was promoted by current District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. to the Felony Unit in 2006 to handle the major crimes in Worcester County.

McHugh is a 1989 graduate of the Western New England College School of Law in Springfield, having earned his JD degree in law. McHugh also earned his MA degree in Journalism from Pennsylvania State University in 1983. McHugh also graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, having earned his BA in Journalism and English in 1978. McHugh taught Journalism at Pennsylvania State University as part of his assistantship in 1982 and 1983. Additionally, he has taught Journalism, English and several law courses at Worcester State University, Becker College and Assumption College throughout the 1990s before coming to MWCC, where has taught as an adjunct professor for several years off and on since the late 1990s. He has taught Criminal Procedure and Criminal Investigation at the Gardner campus, and he has taught Litigation, Mass and the Federal System, Business Law, and now — after a hiatus from the CJ program –Criminal Procedure at the Leominster campus.

Patrick Aubuchon, Adjunct Professor

paubuchon2@mwcc.mass.edu
M.A. Anna Maria College
B.S. Anna Maria College
A.S. Mount Wachusett Community College

Timothy S. Nixon, PhD, Bio

Timothy S. Nixon, Ph.D., is a researcher, educator, and data analyst with more than a decade of experience using data to evaluate programs, inform policy, and improve decision-making in criminal justice. He holds a Ph.D. in Criminology, from the University of Cincinnati, and a B.A. in Philosophy from Indiana University. He served as a crime analyst with the New York Police Department, and has been a research partner on community safety and risk assessment projects in Massachusetts. He has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in statistics, research methods, criminology, and criminal justice. He has published in journals such as the American Journal of Criminal Justice and Academic Questions. His current research focuses on questions of juvenile policy and gang membership.