Ex-Transit Officer Charged With Raping 2 Women In 2012

A former transit police officer from Massachusetts raped two women nearly eight years ago after giving them a joyride in his marked cruiser with his blue lights flashing, prosecutors said Thursday.

Shawn McCarthy, 46, of Wilmington, pleaded not guilty to rape charges during a remote arraignment and was released on personal recognizance, according to a statement from the office of Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins.

McCarthy was “shocked” to learn of the allegations, his attorney, Terry Kennedy said.

“They are completely false and he looks forward to defending himself in court,” Kennedy said.

McCarthy was indicted by a grand jury that was reconvened this week to finish a series of cases it had been hearing prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The alleged crimes occurred in July 2012 while McCarthy was a uniformed Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority officer, prosecutors said.

The women, then in their early 20s, had been drinking when they encountered McCarthy near a downtown Boston subway station, authorities said.

He drove the women around, and after a while told them he hadn’t risked his job for nothing and he would not take them back until he got something out of it, authorities said.

The women feared getting in trouble so submitted to McCarthy, prosecutors said.

One victim told a male relative soon after, but the investigation didn’t start until August when she divulged the alleged crimes while answering required questions as a candidate for a law enforcement job.

McCarthy admitted that he had the two women in the cruiser but denied any wrongdoing. He was placed on administrative leave in December and resigned soon afterward.