Ex-officer sentenced to up to 6 years for rapes
Assaulted two women while on duty in 2012
A former MBTA Transit Police officer was sentenced Wednesday to serve four to six years in state prison for raping two women while on duty in 2012, prosecutors said.
Shawn McCarthy, 50, received his sentence in Suffolk Superior Court, where a jury on Friday found him guilty of three counts of rape, said Suffolk District Attorney Kevin R. Hayden’soffice.
“The strength and testimony of these survivors allowed us to hold Mr. McCarthy accountable for his actions,” Hayden said. “I am grateful for their courage and their decision to come forward. This incident does not define them. In fact, as their statements make clear, sharing their stories has empowered them.”
McCarthy’s lawyer, Daniel J. Gaudet, said his client filed a formal appeal of the verdict on Wednesday. Gaudet said he requested a sentence of three to five years, while prosecutors had sought a term of 12 to 16 years.
“We’re obviously still disappointed in the verdict,” Gaudet said. But the penalty imposed was “a fair sentence that reflects our client’s otherwise exemplary background,” he said.
On July 6, 2012, two women in their early 20s were drinking in Boston when they encountered McCarthy outside the Aquarium T station. He offered the women a “joyride” in his police cruiser and drove them around with his blue lights flashing, officials said.
McCarthy drove to an area near the Museum of Science and stopped in a vacant lot so the women could relieve themselves, prosecutors said. He told them he “hadn’t risked his job for nothing” and that he wouldn’t take them back downtown until “he got something out of it.”
“The women stated that they feared getting in trouble and had no choice but to submit,” prosecutors said.
Afterward, he drove them back to the Aquarium area and warned them not to tell anyone about what happened, prosecutors said.
Both women submitted victim impact statements to the court ahead of sentencing, and one of them attended the proceedings on Wednesday, prosecutors said.
“At that age, I should have been taken care of, not taken advantage of,” one woman wrote in her victim impact statement, which Hayden’s office provided. “I looked up to police, and aspired to one day be an officer myself. For a long time, my faith in law enforcement was destroyed. I was revulsed and silently condemned every man in uniform.”
Prosecutors said last week that the woman told a male relative about the assault almost immediately after it happened. She divulged it again in 2019 while answering questions on an application for a law enforcement job.
“I found myself at a crossroad,” the woman said in her statement. “I could keep my ‘dirty secret’ hidden or I could seek justice. I was now a police officer and I had taken a similar law enforcement oath as Mr. McCarthy. I could not fathom taking advantage of the authority I have been entrusted with. I decided to share my story because it would be a disservice to society if I didn’t.”
The second woman said her life was “forever changed” by her assault.
She said she tried to repress memories of the rape, which led to “substance abuse, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and nightmares” on a regular basis.
“Coming here, being honest, and facing what happened freed me from the chains that have held me back for too many years,” she said. “The burden is gone. This isn’t my victim impact statement. This is my survivor statement.”
She also said she forgives McCarthy.
“Judgment is not my place and I no longer have room in my heart for hatred or resentment,” she said. “This is a new chapter in my life based off of love, peace, and healing.”
MBTA Transit Police Chief Kenneth Green lauded the women for their bravery in coming forward.
“First and foremost, we must acknowledge the survivors in this horrific incident,” Green said after the jury delivered its verdict. “We are in total admiration at the courage and bravery they displayed throughout this ordeal.”
Green condemned McCarthy’s “abhorrent, predatory, and vile conduct,” and said the agency is “committed to restoring the faith and trust of those we are sworn to serve and protect.”