Crime & Safety
Former Attleboro Resident Sentenced to 15-20 Years in Prison for Child Rape Conviction
An investigation conducted by Seekonk and Attleboro police led to the conviction and sentencing.
The Seekonk man who was arrested two years ago on child rape charges was sentenced to 15-20 years in prison this week in Fall River Superior Court, according to a statement released by Bristol County District Attorney Sam Sutter's office.
According to the statement, Michael Badger, 42, of Seekonk and formerly of Pawtucket, RI and Attleboro, was convicted of aggravated rape of a child, rape of a child with force, and two counts of indecent assault and battery of a child. He will serve 15 to 20 years in state prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised probation. Prosecutors argued for an 18-22 year sentence.
“This was an outstanding win for our office on a very serious case of horrific child sexual abuse. The 15 to 20 year prison sentence is almost exactly what we requested, and I am very pleased that the trial judge essentially agreed with our recommendation in this case,” Sutter said in a statement. “We asked for this severe sentence because of the egregiousness of the facts of the case and also because we believe at the district attorney’s office that one way to decrease child abuse is to sentence defendants severely when they commit these terrible acts.
Badger must also register as a sex offender, undergo sex offender counseling while incarcerated, have no future contact with children and was ordered to stay away from the victim and her mother, the statement said.
Badger was arrested in 2011 after an investigation conducted by the DA's office, Seekonk Police Department and Attleboro Police Department.
"Between 2006 and 2010 when the child was 6 to 9 years old, Mr. Badger forcibly raped the child on a number of occasions while the child’s mother was at work," Sutter's statement said. "Mr. badger had been living with the mother and child since 2005. The mother was unaware of the incidents of rape because the defendant had threatened to harm the mother if the child ever told. The couple eventually broke up in 2010 for reasons unrelated to this case. Then in late 2011 after suffering several nightmares and other problems, the child reported the rapes to her mother."
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