Massachusetts football coach arraigned on child rape, impersonating police officer charges

A Massachusetts man was arraigned Friday on child rape charges, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz has announced.

51-year-old Derek G. Sheehan, of Norwell, was arraigned in Brockton Superior Court on five counts of aggravated rape of a child, 10 counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, and two counts each of intimidation of a witness and impersonating a police officer.

The charges allege that on Aug. 17, 2018, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Sheehan’s Norwell home and seized several electronic devices that revealed evidence of child pornography. A forensic review of the devices resulted in the discovery of hours of video footage of Sheehan, on multiple dates, sexually abusing children who appeared to be asleep. At the time of the assaults, the child victims were between the ages of 11 and 13 years old.

The charges additionally allege that Sheehan created fake police reports and emails to convince his victim’s parents that he had already been investigated and cleared of any wrongdoing.

Sheehan pleaded not guilty to the charges and was held on $100,000 cash bail with the condition that he stay away and have no contact with the victims or their families. He is next scheduled to appear in court on January 5. Sheehan pleaded guilty to related federal charges and last month was sentenced to serve 45 years in State Prison.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Beth Kusmin and was investigated by the Norwell Police Department in conjunction with the Massachusetts State Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation.