A former leader of Boston’s police union, who was charged with raping a young relative earlier this month, now faces new charges amid allegations that he sexually abused four other children.
According to NBC Boston, Patrick Rose, an ex-president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, was indicted Tuesday on 16 new counts of child rape and indecent assault on a person younger than 14. The 66-year-old pleaded not guilty at his arraignment hearing, WCVB reports.
Rose's most recent charges relate to allegations of abuse against two children that date back to the 1990s. The other new alleged victims are still children.
On August 12, Rose was arrested by police on $100,000 bail for allegations that he frequently sexually assaulted a young relative since they were seven, NBC Boston reports.
District Attorney Rachael Rollins’ office said in court on August 13 that he assaulted the victim on multiple occasions for nearly six years, from the time she was seven years old until she was 12. The young person revealed the abuse to a family member, who reported it to authorities, per NBC Boston.
“This truly is an American tragedy,” Judge Kathleen Coffey said at Rose’s arraignment this week.
Rollins condemned Rose’s “unfathomable” abuse, excoriating him for causing harm to young people he'd sworn to protect.
"There is nothing more horrible and depraved than sexually abusing a child, and in this case it is made even more unfathomable that the defendant is a former member of law enforcement," she said. "He actually swore an oath to protect victims from harm, instead he was preying on and harming our most vulnerable and innocent, young children."
Judge Coffey increased Rose’s bail by $20,000 for the new cases on Tuesday to a total of $270,000, according to the Boston Herald. A “confession” email obtained by prosecutor Audrey Mark led to her decision to raise the bail.
Mark, who presides over the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office child protection unit, said Rose sent an email apologizing to his family the day he was first confronted with the charges on Aug. 2.
“He said, ‘I know there’s not enough love in this world for you to forgive the monster I truly am,’” Mark said.
William Keefe, Rose’s attorney, believes the email isn’t a confession, telling The Herald that the note didn’t mention any of the alleged crimes.
Keefe said due to statutes of limitations, it's unlikely that all the charges will stick. However, Mark refuted Keef’s statement, detailing to the Herald that child rapes can be prosecuted up to 27 years after the fact with pertinent evidence.
Though Rose isn’t allowed to be held without bond, Coffee has ruled that he must wear a GPS monitor, surrender his passport and any firearms, have no unsupervised contact with any child under the age of 16 and have no contact with the victim, according to NBC Boston.
The 66-year-old is expected back in court on Sept. 23, Boston.com reports.
