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Prosecutors will not pursue rape case against Boston police officer

E-mail|Link November 2, 2009 05:27 PM

By Maria Cramer, Globe Staff

The Suffolk District Attorney's office has decided not to go forward with a case against a Boston police officer accused of raping one of his colleagues, then threatening to kill her and her husband.

Assistant District Attorney David Deakin, who oversees all sexual assault and child abuse cases in the county, told the female officer during a private meeting this afternoon that there was not enough evidence to pursue the case, according to the officer's attorney and her husband.

"We don't agree with the decision and we're disappointed," said the officer's lawyer, Philip A. Tracy Jr. "But we understand that if in fact some new evidence surfaces that we hope that they will take another look at it."

The female officer declined to comment through her husband citing departmental rules that do not allow officers to speak to the media without permission.

Her husband said they still want to pursue the case and may reach out to other jurisdictions where the officer has alleged the sexual assaults took place. The officer said that her colleague raped her several times over the course of a month, first in Connecticut, where they traveled for a shooting competition and then in the Boston area.

"She's been through so much," the husband said. "How can she call herself a cop if she doesn’t do anything to stop him?"

Both the names of the officer and her husband are being withheld at their request. The Globe does not publish the names of people who say they have been sexually assaulted.

The accused officer's name is also being withheld because he has not been charged.

His lawyer, Thomas Drechsler, said he had spoken with Deakin and he agreed with the decision.

"I have been and remain confident that any reasonable person, any reasonable prosecutor would come to this conclusion," he said. "I believe my client is innocent, always have contended that."

Here is the statement from the DA's office:

BOSTON, Nov. 2, 2009—The Suffolk County District Attorney’s office today released the following statement on allegations of sexual abuse by a Boston Police officer against another Boston Police officer:

“For the past six weeks, Boston Police detectives and Suffolk County prosecutors conducted a comprehensive investigation of a report by a female Boston Police officer that she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a male colleague in August and September of this year, and that one or more of those assaults took place in Boston.

“In the course of that investigation, Boston Police detectives have interviewed more than two dozen witnesses and have gathered telephone records, hotel records, text messages, other personal records, and testimony from restraining order hearings in the Dorchester District Court.

After a thorough review of the evidence and the law, Suffolk prosecutors have concluded that the evidence in the case does not support a criminal prosecution. As a result, no criminal charges will be forthcoming in Suffolk County. The Boston Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division continues its administrative review of the matter to determine if there was any violation of police department rules and regulations.''