The longest-serving victim-witness advocate in Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office was recognized today by the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance.

Michael Coffey, a West Roxbury native, was honored for his 25th year of consecutive service at a ceremony this morning at the Massachusetts State House. Coffey has been “a shoulder for victims, witnesses, and their families to lean on” since 1985, Conley said.

Coffey began training as a Suffolk victim advocate in the Boston Municipal Court not long after the Victim’s Bill of Rights was codified under Ch. 258B of the Massachusetts General Laws. He was later dispatched to Roxbury and Brighton district courts and rose through the ranks to work alongside Superior Court trial teams in the DA’s Homicide Unit and Major Felony Bureau, where he is currently assigned.

“Our most fundamental job is to serve victims,” Conley said. “Michael Coffey embodies that mission from the time a case is assigned until long after it’s concluded.”

A 1980 graduate of North Adams State College, Coffey has previously received the Massachusetts Victim and Witness Assistance Board’s 2004 Victim Advocate Award, the Living After Murder Program’s 2003 John Taylor Award, the MOVA 2005 Award for Dedicated Victim Advocacy, and the 2005 Suffolk Award for Outstanding Superior Court Victim-Witness Advocate. In 2002, he was one of just four advocates nationwide invited to represent the interests of victims at the Criminal Justice Summit on Impaired Driving.

“It would take days to name every person he’s helped in the course of his career,” Conley said. “From the victims of street robberies to the families of murdered children, Michael has given 100% of himself to each and every person who’s needed him. It’s not an easy job. It can be incredibly draining. But Michael has found the strength, and he’s shared it every day for 25 years.”

Also recognized today was Anne Kelley-McCarthy, who recently observed her 10th anniversary as a Suffolk victim-witness advocate. Kelley-McCarthy, who began her career at West Roxbury District Court, is currently assigned to Conley’s Sexual Assault Unit and most recently worked alongside prosecutors in the case against DAVID FLAVELL. Flavell was convicted today of attempting to rape a woman in a hospital bathroom late last year.

Coffey is one of about 30 victim-witness advocates employed by Conley’s office. They provide specialized assistance, support, referrals, and information to victims, witnesses, and families involved in criminal cases. Advocates are assigned to the nine district courts in Suffolk County and to most Superior Court units.