Former Dartmouth police officer’s child rape conviction set aside by judge

DARTMOUTH, Mass. (WLNE) — Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn said that the jury conviction of former Dartmouth police officer Shawn Souza was set aside by a judge and a new trial was ordered.

Souza was found guilty of two counts of aggravated rape of a child, one count of rape of a child by force, and one court of indecent assault and battery of a person 14 or older on October 2024.

Quinn said the conviction was set aside after the defendant argued that the multiple charges should not have been brought to trial at the same time.

Souza was released from custody after the setting aside of the conviction, which he was originally set to serve 10 to 15 years for.

Quinn released the following statement on the decision:

In my over 36 years of practicing law, I have never seen a judge deliberately nullify a unanimous jury verdict without giving the District Attorney’s Office the right to a full hearing. The motion was allowed based on issues that were not properly raised by the defendant or were raised for the first time by the judge in her written decision without a proper record for her to make such a ruling. The jury unanimously convicted the defendant, a former police officer, of serious child rape charges.  The judge’s decision sets aside the jury’s six-hour deliberations and takes away a verdict that was well supported by the evidence. The court’s decision undermines the jury system and people’s confidence that justice is being done. Issues of fairness that arise during the trial are for the appellate process which proceeds in a way where a trial record is reviewed, and all parties have the appropriate opportunity to be heard. 

Quinn added that his office would be appealing the decision.

Souza was originally arrested in 2019, and was placed on leave from the Dartmouth Police Department, where he had worked for 10 years.

The victims were Souza’s young step-daughter and a teenaged family friend.

Souza was also found guilty of molesting a 15-year-old girl in 2013.