A Middlesex County jury has found former Everett custodian Robert Shea not guilty of all charges lodged against him, following a nine-day trial in Woburn Superior Court.
Shea, a longtime Everett School Department employee who worked as a foreman- custodian, was suspended from his job without pay last year after being indicted for the alleged rape and indecent assault of a 12-year old boy.
Shea also served as a junior varsity basketball coach at the Everett public schools.
Shea, 57, ultimately resigned his position with the school department before the matter went to trial.
The trial began on August 18 and finished with the not guilty jury decision on August 27.
It was alleged that Shea repeatedly raped and assaulted the victim at Shea’s Everett home. The rapes were alleged to have taken place over a period of months, according to Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone.
Shea was arraigned on April 7 in Malden District Court and was released on bail and ordered to have no contact with the victim and his family and no unsupervised contact with children under age 16. He was ordered to wear a GPS monitor.
“We believe we put forth a strong and compelling case before the jury, but we must respect their decision, and we thank them for their time and service to the commonwealth,” said Leone.
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Who is responsible for paying to put this man's life back together? Why is it acceptable for DA Leone to destroy a human being's life , not to mention his family's, and then walk away and say "aw shucks, we tried"!! It would be more humane to let a DA shoot the falsely accused in the head rather than let them live the remainder of their lives in embarresment and shame for a horrendous crime that they did not commit. There is something terribly wrong with this. If Mr. Shea is truly innocent of these accusations,I wish him and his family well.I also truly hope and pray that if the accuser was victomized by anyone, that he has the help and support he will need for a long time to deal with such a horrible crime against him that no human being , let alone a child should ever have to experience.