Jury convicts former MBTA officer of 2012 rapes
Shawn McCarthy was found guilty on three counts of rape 12 years after sexually assaulting two women he took on a joyride through Boston.
A jury on Friday convicted a former MBTA police officer of raping two women while on duty in Boston in 2012.
Shawn McCarthy, 50, formerly of Wilmington but now living in Maine, was found guilty on three counts of rape stemming from the July 6, 2012, incident. According to Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office, McCarthy drove two women in his cruiser to a vacant lot near the Museum of Science and sexually assaulted them.
The victims, who were in their early 20s at the time, had been out drinking when they met McCarthy outside the Aquarium T station. Against the advice of a fellow officer, McCarthy “offered the women a joyride in his marked police cruiser and drove them around the area with blue lights flashing,” Hayden’s office said.
McCarthy pulled into the lot, told the women he hadn’t risked his job for nothing, and refused to take them back downtown until he “got something out of it.” The women said they became fearful and felt they had no choice but to submit.
Prosecutors said McCarthy raped one of the women as she stood against his parked cruiser, then assaulted the second woman as she sat in the backseat. McCarthy then drove them back to the Aquarium station and warned them not to tell anyone about the assaults.
According to Hayden’s office, one of the victims told a relative about the assault soon after it happened. She spoke about it again in August 2019 while applying for a law-enforcement job, saying she believed her assaulter worked for the Boston Police Department. However, investigators identified the assailant as a transit police officer and a grand jury investigation with the MBTA Transit Police Department followed.
McCarthy admitted to having the two women in his cruiser that night but denied any wrongdoing. The MBTA Transit Police Department put him on administrative leave in December 2019, and he resigned soon afterward.
“This officer abused his position, violated his department protocols, and, worst of all by far, subjected two young women to sexual assaults that went unacted upon for many years. But thanks to the victims ultimately coming forward, and the diligent work of investigators, justice in this case was sought and, with today’s verdict, delivered,” Hayden said.
McCarthy is due to be sentenced on March 20.
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