For Immediate Release August 8, 2008                             
Contact: Corey Welford/Jessica Venezia 781-897-8325

Everett School Custodian, JV Basketball Coach Indicted On Child Rape, Indecent Assault Charges

Woburn – Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone’s office informed the public today that an Everett man has been indicted by a Middlesex County Grand Jury in connection with the alleged rape and indecent assault of a 12-year-old boy.

Robert J. Shea, 57, of Everett, was indicted yesterday on charges of child rape (three counts), indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 (four counts), and open and gross lewdness. 

A date for Shea’s arraignment in Woburn Superior Court has not yet been set.

At the time of his arrest, Shea was employed as a custodian and the junior varsity basketball coach at the Everett Public Schools.

It is alleged that the defendant, who was known to the boy, repeatedly raped and assaulted the victim at Shea’s Everett residence and in the former Everett High School building, to which Shea had access to as a custodian. The rapes and assaults are alleged to have occurred over a period of months in 2007.

The victim came forward to Everett Police on April 4, 2008. Everett Police and the Middlesex District Attorney’s Child Abuse Unit conducted the investigation which led to Shea’s arrest.

Shea was arraigned on April 7, 2008 in Malden District Court before Judge Matthew J. Nestor and was ordered held on $15,000 cash bail with conditions.  The conditions included that Shea have no contact with victim and his family, no unsupervised contact with children under age 16, and be on GPS monitoring.

These charges are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Michael Chinman. The victim witness advocate is Kara Grant. The case is being investigated by the Everett Police and the Middlesex District Attorney’s Child Abuse Unit.

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