A Massachusetts registered sex offender freed on bail for rape is facing new charges after kidnapping and raping a woman when she tried to leave his home, police said.
Shawn McClinton, 39, was arrested on charges of aggravated rape, armed kidnapping with sexual assault and related counts after a woman told police she was forced at knifepoint to perform oral sex on him after meeting the Level 3 sex offender Tuesday on a Quincy street, the Boston Globe reports.
After meeting in Quincy, McClinton and the woman went to his home in the city’s Dorchester section, where he accused the woman of being an undercover police officer when she tried to leave early Wednesday, she told police.
McClinton, who was freed from jail three weeks earlier in a 2018 rape case in Suffolk Superior Court, then allegedly strangled and forced the woman to perform oral sex.
“Do you know what I could do to you?” McClinton told the woman, according to a police report obtained by the newspaper.
Boston Police Commissioner William Gross said he was “absolutely appalled” that McClinton, who was convicted of rape in 1994 and 2007, would be granted bail, particularly given his violent history.
“We’re getting to a point in society where we’re giving more credence to criminals than victims,” Gross told the newspaper. “We’re talking about violent offenders. Why would you bail someone who committed rapes?”
The Massachusetts Bail Fund posted $15,000 to spring McClinton from custody, prompting criticism of the group by Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins, the newspaper reports.
“The Bail Fund posted $15,000 and set McClinton loose on our community,” Rollins said. “They have no responsibility to or compassion for the victims and survivors of his crimes, or the families that he destroyed. I do.”
A judge ordered McClinton held without bail Thursday.
“I find probable cause that Mr. McClinton committed a new violent offense, while on release for a violent offense,” Dorchester District Court Judge Lisa Grant said. “I find there are no conditions that would ensure the safety of the community, particularly females.”
Grant ordered McClinton held without bail for 60 days, at which point it would be set at $500,000 with a mandate for him to wear a GPS monitor if he’s freed, the newspaper reports.
An attorney for McClinton, meanwhile, had argued for his client’s $15,000 bail to be restored, claiming he wasn’t accused of “forcible rape” and that McClinton denies some of the accusations.
Officials from the Massachusetts Bail Fund did not respond to requests for comment, the Globe reports.
“The Massachusetts Bail Fund pays up to $2000 bail so that low-income people can stay free while they work towards resolving their case, allowing individuals, families, and communities to stay productive, together, and stable,” the group’s website reads.
McClinton is due back in court on Sept. 4, WFXT reports.