Prosecutor: Child rape suspect likely to be indicted

Dave Rogers, The Daily News of Newburyport, Mass.
·2 min read

Jan. 19—SALISBURY — After being charged with raping a child, David McCarron will likely be indicted by a Salem Superior Court grand jury within the next few weeks, according to an Essex County prosecutor.

Assistant District Attorney Shailagh Kennedy informed Newburyport District Court Judge Peter Doyle of the news during a motion hearing Wednesday in Newburyport District Court.

During the brief hearing, she asked the judge to move McCarron's next court date to Feb. 24. McCarron was due back in court Jan. 27.

"We anticipate indictment by then," Kennedy told Doyle, who granted the request.

Assuming McCarron is indicted, he will be arraigned in the higher court. He faces a child rape with force charge and four counts of indecent assault and battery of a child under 14.

McCarron, who was not present for the hearing, was released on $5,000 cash bail Jan. 5. after Salem Superior Court Judge Sal Tibit overruled Doyle's ruling to hold him without bail while awaiting trial.

Doyle's ruling Dec. 30 stated there were no conditions of release that would ensure the girl's safety and ordered him held pending trial.

While awaiting trail, McCarron must stay out of Salisbury, wear a GPS monitoring device, live at the Bedford address provided to the court and remain there from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. each day, have no contact with the child and witnesses, and have no unsupervised contact with children under 16.

Little is known publicly about the charges since the police report was immediately impounded following his arraignment.

But according to court records, they stem from incidents on three days in September, October and November. Following the November incident, a family member obtained a restraining order against McCarron.

The initial complaint was made Dec. 13, with the child being interviewed by police as recently as last week.

Minutes before Doyle's original ruling in late December, Kennedy told Doyle that McCarron "groomed" the 11-year-old child over a long period of time, including instances when the child's mother was out of the house. In that sense, he had a "caregiver role."

Dave Rogers is a reporter with the Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: drogers@newburyportnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @drogers41008.

Dave Rogers is a reporter with the Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: drogers@newburyportnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @drogers41008.