Ex-Boston Officer Patrick Rose Stayed On Force Despite Abuse Allegation
BOSTON (AP/CBS) — A former Boston police officer and union chief, charged with molesting multiple children, first faced child abuse allegations in the mid-1990s, according to a published report.
Patrick Rose Sr., 66, a retired officer and the one-time president of the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association, was initially charged last August when a father and his teenage daughter reported that the girl had been repeatedly molested by Rose from age 7 through 12.
Within weeks, five more people came forward to accuse Rose of molesting them as children.
The Boston Police Department in 1995 filed a criminal complaint against Rose for sexual assault on a 12-year-old child, The Boston Globe reported Sunday.
The criminal complaint was eventually dropped, but an internal investigation concluded that Rose likely committed a crime. He was allowed to stay on the force, and was often sent to respond to cases involving children.
Boston police have refused to release records pertaining to the 1995 case and it remains unclear what, if any, disciplinary action was taken against Rose at that time.
Acting Mayor Kim Janey called the allegations "appalling" and promised more transparency. On Monday, Janey announced Rose's internal affairs file will be released to the public after victims' names were redacted.
"It is baffling that officer Rose was allowed to remain on the force for over two decades and ultimately led the patrolmen's union," Janey said in a statement. "I was deeply disturbed to learn that there was no effort to prevent Rose from coming into contact with other minors after such serious charges were found to be credible by BPD's own internal affairs probe of the original allegations in 1995."
Rose pleaded not guilty to 33 total charges involving six alleged victims and is being held on $200,000 cash bail.
"My client maintains his innocence to all of the charges that have been brought against him and he maintains his innocence to what was alleged to have transpired back in 1995," his attorney, William J. Keefe, said.
The Boston Police Department in a statement said it was legally prohibited from commenting "on the facts and circumstances of the 1995 investigation of these horrific allegations."
Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins said in a statement she found it troubling that Boston police did not properly discipline Rose or restrict his access to children.
"The allegations from decades ago are an example of how systems can fail people," Rollins said.
Boston's police department has a history of protecting officers from accountability, particularly if they are white, like Rose, said retired deputy superintendent Willie Bradley.
"The police department's refusal to actually deal with this issue is a direct contributor to what happened," Bradley, who is Black and now a lecturer and professor at multiple area colleges, told The Boston Globe. "It would have been out there and people would have been aware of it, but they hid it."
(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)