Former Dartmouth Police Officer Convicted of Child Rape and Indecent Assault

FALL RIVER (WBSM) — A former Dartmouth Police officer was convicted Wednesday of child rape and indecent assault and battery.

Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced that Shawn Souza was convicted by a jury following a three-day trial in Fall River Superior Court.

He was convicted on two counts of aggravated rape of a child, one count of rape of a child by force, and one count of indecent assault and battery of a person 14 or older.

Souza was taken into custody and will be sentenced at 10 a.m. today.

He was arrested in April 2019 after he raped one victim and indecently assaulted another. Both incidents occurred in Dartmouth, and he was reportedly not on duty when they took place.

Souza, who had been a patrol officer with the Dartmouth Police since 2008, was placed on paid administrative leave following the charges.

He was found to be dangerous at a hearing three days after his arrest but was released on $10,00 cash bail and under the conditions that he stay away from the victims, adhere to a curfew and wear a court-ordered GPS monitoring device.