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Shawn McCarthy, 50, who lived in Wilmington at the time of the rapes, will be sentenced on three counts of rape stemming from an incident in 2012, the Suffolk County District Attorney said.
The attack happened on July 6, 2012, near the area of the Museum of Science in Boston.
Two intoxicated women in their early 20s approached McCarthy outside the Aquarium subway station and asked him for a ride in his patrol cruiser, the prosecutor said. McCarthy agreed to give the women a "joyride" against the advice of his colleague.
McCarthy drove the women around the area with the emergency lights on before stopping in a vacant parking lot, authorities said. He told them he had risked his job and they owed him. He said he would not take them back downtown until he "got something out of it," the prosecutor said.
The women told police they felt they had no choice and would get in trouble if they didn't submit.
He had sex with one woman against his patrol car while penetrating the second woman with his fingers as she sat in the backseat, the prosecutor explained.
McCarthy drove them back to where he had picked them up and warned them not to tell anyone what had happened.
One of the women told a male relative shortly after the assault. She did not discuss it again until August 2019, when she had to divulge it while answering questions as part of a job interview for a law enforcement position.
When confronted, McCarthy admitted to meeting the women that night and having them in his car but denied wrongdoing, the prosecutor said. He was placed on administrative leave in December 2019 and resigned soon after.
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden praised the women for coming forward.
“This officer abused his position, violated his department protocols, and, worst of all by far, subjected two young women to sexual assaults that went unacted upon for many years," Hayden said in a news release. "But thanks to the victims ultimately coming forward, and the diligent work of investigators, justice in this case was sought and, with today’s verdict, delivered."
McCarthy, who now lives in Maine, will be sentenced on Tuesday, March 19.
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