Two people sexually abused as children by a longtime Boston police officer who once served as head of the department's main police union have filed a federal civil suit, saying authorities "emboldened" their abuser by failing to take action when they were alerted to the abuse.
Patrick Rose pleaded guilty last year to 21 counts of child rape and sexual assault over a 27-year period. The abuse came to light in 2020, when Rose was arrested, but it was later revealed that Rose was allowed to remain on the force for years despite sufficient evidence found by internal investigators supporting allegations that he sexually assaulted a minor.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, says that the state Department of Children and Families was alerted to Rose abusing a child in 1992 and 1995, and that the Boston Police Department was alerted in 1995 as well, but Rose wasn't fired. Calling that a "complete failure," the suit says Rose therefore "avoided criminal charges, incarceration, restraining orders, therapy, and child custody restrictions.
"Because the BPD and DCF did nothing, Rose was emboldened and escalated his abuse against John Doe and Jane Doe and extended the abuse to additional child victims," the lawsuit continues.
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Resources for victims of sexual assault are available through the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673, and Massachusetts provides this list of statewide and resources for sexual assault survivors.
Rose abused the two plaintiffs, who filed the complaint anonymously, from 1990 to 1999, stopping when both reached 14 years old, according to the lawsuit. He also allegedly abused four other children, referred to as family members, stretching from at least 1990 to 2020 — he was president of the Boston Police Patrolman's Association from 2014 to 2018, and retired the Boston Police Department in 2018 after 23 years.
The lawsuit names as defendants the city, the police department, then-Police Commissioner Bill Evans, other city employees, the Department of Children and Families, the Boston Police Patrolman's Association and another of its former presidents, as well as Rose and his wife.
The lawsuit seeks damages and a new requirement for staff at the city, police and DCF to be trained on preventing and disciplining staff members.
When Rose pleaded guilty, he was sentenced to 10 to 13 years in prison, plus 10 years probation following his release. In court, several of his victims delivered victim impact statements.
One talked about the “dead-soul feeling of emotional pain” the victim experienced because of the abuse.
“I saw you for what you really are — a coward, a predator of the weak and the defenseless,” the victim said.
Another victim said of Rose: “Your reputation? Absolutely gone. All you will ever be remembered as is another creep who has nothing going for him. Your job as a cop protecting people? Well that’s really quite ironic, isn’t it?”
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Rose was eventually charged with the rape and abuse of six children. Prosecutors said at the time that most of the charges date back to the 1990s, but at least one was within the previous two years.
A city review of the Rose investigation led to a series of recommendations for keeping the department transparent. Among the changes recommended by the Office of Police Accountability and Transparancy were starting investigations into officers charged with crimes within 48 hours and creating clear guidance for how officers should be punished.
