Everett coach to be charged with rape of boy, 12

Series of assaults has been alleged

A custodian and coach from Everett is expected to be arraigned today on charges related to the rape of a 12-year-old boy, a spokesman for the Middlesex district attorney's office said last night.

Robert Shea is scheduled to appear in Malden District Court on two counts of child rape and three counts of indecent assault and battery, charges that stem from a "series of sexual assaults on a 12-year-old boy" last year, spokesman Corey Welford said.

He was arrested after investigations by the Everett Police Department and the Middlesex district attorney's Office of Child Abuse, Welford said.

More information will be made available at the arraignment, Welford said.

Shea works as a custodian, but Welford would not say where. The Associated Press identified him as an Everett school custodian.

John DiBiaso, athletic director and varsity boys' basketball coach at Everett High School, said Shea has been the junior varsity boys' basketball coach at Everett High for several years.

Shea missed much of the last season with a heart problem, DiBiaso said.

SEAN GREENE