A grand jury sitting in Middlesex County returned indictments against a fifty-seven year old Everett man charging him with three counts of rape of a child and four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of fourteen. If convicted the man faces a possible sentence of life in prison.
The Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office press release stated that 57 year old Robert Shea raped and assaulted a young boy at his residence in Everett as well as in the High School building. These acts occurred in 2007 over a period of several months. The victim made his complaint in April of 2008. Bail was set at fifteen thousand dollars.
For full story read Middlesex County District Attorney Press Release
Massachusetts law makes it a crime for anyone to have sex with a person under the age of sixteen whether or not the act is consensual. The indictment Shea is defending against charges him with forcibly compelling the child to engage in natural or unnatural sexual intercourse. This is commonly known as rape of a child by force. To be found guilty of this offense the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the act of rape and that the act was committed without the person’s consent. The elements of rape can be satisfied in many ways. Digital penetration and fellatio may in some circumstances fulfill the requirement of rape.
Indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of fourteen requires the prosecution to prove 1) that the victim was under the age of fourteen at the time of the act and 2) that the defendant intentionally and unjustifiably touch the private are of the child in a manner that is fundamentally offensive to today’s moral values.
Crimes such as this are difficult to defend. The accusation is in and of itself hideous and the natural tendency is for people to ask “Why would someone make something like this up?”. In the past twenty years our office has encountered scores of reasons that answer this question and serve as a defense to people wrongfully accused of these and similar crimes. Massachusetts criminal lawyers who have defended rape and sexual assault charges understand how to fight these cases. Contact our office today if you have been charged with a sex crime in Massachusetts.
Related Web Resources:
Boston Sex Crimes Defense Lawyers.
Indecent Assault and Battery on a Child Under 14. G.L. c. 265 sec. 13B
Rape of a Child G.L. c. 265 sec. 22A