Ex-T cop faces rape charges

Court: 2 accosted after ride in cruiser

A former Transit Police officer is facing rape charges for allegedly assaulting two women in a vacant lot in 2012 while on duty after offering them a ride in his police cruiser after they had been drinking, Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins’ Office said Thursday.

Former Transit cop Shawn McCarthy, 46, of Wilmington, was released after a remote arraignment Thursday by a Suffolk Superior Court judge and ordered to have no contact with the victims or witnesses, as requested by a prosecutor, the DA’s office said in a statement.

A grand jury was reconvened amid the coronavirus pandemic to issue the indictment, according to the DA.

“It takes great courage for survivors in a case like this to come forward,” Rollins said. “When a member of any law enforcement agency commits such a horrendous act, it erodes the community’s confidence in law enforcement as a whole.”

McCarthy allegedly encountered the two victims in their early 20s outside the Aquarium subway station after they had been drinking in Boston and offered them a joyride in his cruiser with the lights flashing, against the advice of a fellow officer, prosecutors say.

After stopping in a vacant lot to allow the women to relieve themselves, McCarthy allegedly said he hadn’t risked his job for nothing and told the victims he wouldn’t take them back downtown until he got something out of it, officials said.

According to prosecutors, the women submitted to sexual acts with McCarthy over fear of getting in trouble, and McCarthy penetrated one victim as she stood against the cruiser and the other in the backseat of his police car. The transit officer then allegedly drove them back to where he had picked them up and told the victims to stay quiet about the incident.

One victim disclosed the assault to a male relative and told of the alleged incident again in August 2019 when answering questions as a candidate for a law enforcement job in another community, the DA’s office said.

Boston Police investigated the case because the woman believed McCarthy was a BPD officer, but investigators soon identified the transit officer. McCarthy allegedly admitted to having the women in his cruiser but denied any wrongdoing and was placed on administrative leave in December 2019 before resigning shortly after.

McCarthy’s next hearing is scheduled in August.