Former Chelsea School Committee member Henry Wilson, 57, pleaded guilty in Suffolk Superior Court on Thursday, Feb. 23 to raping a 12-year-old child in 2021 after offering the child a ride in his car.
Wilson pleaded guilty to rape and abuse of a child, enticement, and posing a child in sexual conduct. Judge Michael Ricciuti imposed a sentence of five years to five years and a day on the rape charge.
On the second and third charges, Ricciuti sentenced Wilson to five years’ probation beginning upon his release. Ricciuti also ordered Wilson to stay away from the victim, wear a GPS device with an exclusion zone around the victim’s home and school, have no unsupervised contact with children under 18, have no employment involving contact with children under 18, undergo sex offender treatment and register as a sex offender.
Assistant District Attorney Audrey Mark said that on June 28, 2021, the victim was walking in the area of Broadway in Chelsea when an adult male offered the victim a ride in his car. The man drove the victim to a parking lot and committed the sexual assault. Portions of the sexual assault were recorded on a cell phone camera, according to the district attorney’s office.
The victim’s family became aware several days later of the assault and contacted Chelsea police, and Wilson was subsequently identified, interviewed and arrested, according to the district attorney.
“This case involves multiple levels of abuse, including Mr. Wilson abusing his status as an adult and his status as a person of authority, particularly a person of authority over school children,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden. “But more than anything else it involves the abuse of an innocent child, and Mr. Wilson now knows the consequences of such conduct. The courage of the victim and the victim’s family was crucial in moving this case forward.”
The Chelsea Public School District released a statement that said district officials cooperated fully with the District Attorney, Chelsea Police Department, and other agencies involved in this investigation.
Mr. Wilson was barred from the Chelsea Public Schools and from having contact with any students in August of 2021,” the statement continued. “He resigned from the School Committee in September of 2021. The school district can provide no other details about the matter at this time, and all further questions should be directed to the District Attorney’s Office.” The victims of any crime, including domestic or sexual violence, should call 911 in an emergency. SafeLink, a statewide DV hotline, can be reached at 877-785-2020. SafeLink is answered by trained advocates 24/7 in English, Spanish and Portuguese, as well as TTY at 877-521-2601. It also has the capacity to provide multilingual translation in more than 140 languages.