Chatham boy released to family after indicted in alleged attempt to drown Black boy

BARNSTABLE — A Barnstable Superior Court judge on Monday ordered a white Chatham boy, John P. Sheeran, 14, who is alleged to have attempted to drown another boy who is Black on July 19 in Chatham, to be released into the custody of his father.

Sheeran was ordered held without bail after a dangerousness hearing in Barnstable Juvenile Court on Aug. 31 following his arraignment on attempted murder and assault charges. An appeal of the detention order was heard on Monday, resulting in the boy's release.

Walking to his family’s car after the hearing neither Sheeran nor his family issued a comment to the Times. His defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, said the judge’s decision to release the boy to his family under the conditions set by the court was the right decision.

“Right now, it's not a matter of guilt or innocence. It's a matter of, are there any terms and conditions of release that could assure the safety of the complaining witness and the public?” Reddington said. “And clearly, the judge made a very reasonable order, GPS, 24/7 lockdown, and that's certainly more than enough to assure the safety of the public.”

Nearly 50 members of the Cape and Islands community showed up for the appeal hearing to voice support for the Black juvenile who is alleged to have nearly drowned.

Among other conditions of Sheeran's release, Barnstable County Superior Court Judge Mark Gildea said the accused must report to the juvenile department of probation, would be subject to a curfew and would need to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

“The alleged offense, offenses, are both wrongful and offensive,” Gildea said. “However, the issue before me is not whether these events are wrongful or offensive. The issue before me is whether the commonwealth has shown, upon clear and convincing evidence, that no conditions of release imposed upon Mr. Sheeran reasonably assure the safety of the persons and, or, the community.”

Chatham boy alleged to have punched another boy

During the Monday hearing, Assistant District Attorney Eileen Moriarty said later on the evening of July 19 Sheeran punched another boy of Asian descent in the face after words were exchanged. Moriarty said this incident was further reason to uphold the initial dangerousness decision.

This is a child "who cannot be kept safe in the community and the community can’t be kept safe from him,” Moriarty said. “We’ve heard that this violence unfortunately is targeted toward children of other races, children that don’t look like him.”

Reddington said, in response, the incident was handled amicably between the two boys and their families.

“It was an argument because they knew each other,” Reddington said, adding the boy called Sheeran “fat” before Sheeran punched the boy. “He (Sheeran) immediately apologized, spoke to the young gentleman’s mother … they thought he was sincere in his apology,” Reddington said.

The boy's mother had the opportunity to press charges but decided against it, Reddington said.

Barnstable County grand jury indicts Sheeran

Sheeran was indicted on Aug. 31 by a Barnstable County grand jury on felony charges of attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon after he and another white juvenile were accused of persistently harassing and assaulting a Black juvenile at Goose Pond in Chatham, a statement from the office of Cape and Island District Attorney Robert Galibois said.

The alleged assault was racially motivated, Galibois said in his statement.

Sheeran is accused of throwing stones at the Black boy, calling him racial slurs and dunking him 4 to 5 times making it difficult for him to breathe, according to a Chatham police report.

A person on the beach intervened and helped the Black boy back to shore, according to the report.

The Times usually does not publish the names of juveniles accused of crime but due to the severity of the charges, the case against Sheeran is public, according to Galibois, including Monday's hearing.

Cape and Islands community members at the courthouse to support the Black juvenile represented over 30 organizations, including the Barnstable Human Rights Advisory Commission, No Place for Hate Barnstable, No Place for Hate Falmouth and Zion Union Heritage Museum.

Former Barnstable Town Council member Deborah Dagwan said the outcome was “disappointing,” adding she thought the judge’s decision let down the boy who is alleged to have nearly drowned.

“He jeopardized somebody’s life,” Dagwan said, referring to Sheeran. “Why would you hold somebody down, (who was) saying ‘I can’t breathe?’ He feared for his life at that point.”

Lynne Rhodes, president of the Cape Cod chapter of the NAACP, told reporters outside the courthouse there was no information she could share about the boy who is alleged to have nearly drowned. She asked the public to respect the privacy of the boy and his family.

“We are also committed to working with other social justice organizations on Cape Cod to help put an end to these types of incidents until racial violence becomes a relic of the past,” Rhodes said.

Walker Armstrong reports on all things transportation and the Joint Base Cape Cod military base. Contact him at WArmstrong@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter:@jd__walker.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Judge releases John Sheeran, 14, of Chatham in attempted drowning case