Former Mass. radio host found guilty of molesting 8-year-old female relative

A jury found a former Massachusetts journalist guilty of sexually and physically assaulting a “close female relative” during her preteen years on Tuesday, the Bristol County District Attorney’s office said.

Richard Oliveira, 53, was found guilty of indecent assault and battery on a person under the age of 14 and assault and battery in Fall River District Court, the DA’s office said in a press release Wednesday.

During the trial, the victim testified that when she was eight years old, Oliveira sexually molested her after she went into his bedroom seeking comfort during a stormy night, the release said. 

Then, about two years later, Oliveira punished the victim for throwing out his cigarettes by dragging her around the house by her hair, the release said. While doing so, he ripped some of her hair off her head. 

The victim testified that she threw out the cigarettes because she was suffering from asthma, and it was hard for her to breathe when Oliveira smoked, the release said.

The crimes happened in Swansea, where Oliveira lives, the release said. The Herald News reported that they happened between 2012 and 2014.

What led up to the trial

Oliveira worked as a reporter for The Standard-Times of New Bedford in the 1990s, and later became the publisher of the Portuguese and English language newspaper O Jornal, the Herald reported. O Jornal is now a section of the Herald.

In 2008, Oliveira became a part-time talk show host at Fall River’s WSAR radio station, the Herald reported. He served in various roles at the station, including general manager, until he was “involuntarily separated from the organization” in 2017.

Oliveira was charged with and arraigned on the two counts of assault in November 2022, the Herald reported. A judge released him on his own recognizance on Dec. 11 with orders to have no contact with the victim or “anyone pertaining to the case.”

Oliveira’s court file was kept from public record to protect the identity of the victim and because the filings contain explicit information about the sexual abuse of a minor, the Herald reported.

Oliveira’s sentencing

Judge Cynthia Brackett sentenced Oliveira to two years in the house of corrections, with one year to serve and the balance suspended for three years, the release said. If he violates any terms of his eventual release or commits a new crime, he could be ordered to serve the remainder of the suspended jail sentence.

During sentencing, the prosecution asked the judge to issue the maximum two-and-a-half year jail term for the indecent assault and another year in jail for the physical assault, the release said. The defense asked for no jail time, and instead sought a three to five-year probationary term.

In her impact statement, the victim told the court she “suffered through years of anxiety and depression as a result of what [Oliveira] did to her,” the DA’s office wrote in the release. “She said she still fears walking alone on the street and said what happened to her has tainted her childhood.”

Bristol County DA Thomas Quinn III said in the release that Oliveira “took advantage of his position of trust and engaged in despicable conduct.”

“Based on the facts of the case, I feel the defendant should have been sentenced to a longer period of incarceration,” he said. “I commend the victim for coming forward and for testifying in court under very difficult circumstances.”

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