Former Boston Public School Official Charged With Child Rape

BOSTON — A former Boston Public Schools official is facing aggravated child rape and exploitation charges.

Michael McDonald, 40, now living in South Carolina, was arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court Monday on three counts of aggravated rape of a child, and charges of posing a child in the state of nudity, possession of sexual abuse materials, and distributing materials harmful to a minor, the district attorney's office said.

Though he was released on personal recognizance, McDonald was ordered to stay away from children and surrender his passport.

The district attorney's office says the survivor of the abuse met McDonald because he was the Dean of Students at Dearborn Middle School in Roxbury. McDonald ran a school-based program called "Live Brothers" and a private program for young men called "Family for Life."

The DA's office said the survivor was too young to participate in the programs at the time, so McDonald became friendly and familiar to his family to gain their trust and secure access to him.

McDonald became a mentor to the survivor, using his position of power and trust to "groom" him for abuse, the DA reported.

In 2013, the sexual assaults began, when the survivor was only 15-years-old. Prosecutors say they continued for a number of years, but Massachusetts law doesn't criminalize rape of a child once they turn 16, despite continued vulnerability to adults in authority, so prosecutors were only able to pursue charges of statutory rape that happened before the survivor's 16th birthday.

Prosecutors say McDonald is also accused of taking naked photos of the child and sending him naked photos of himself.

In addition to the Dearborn School in Roxbury, now the Dearborn STEM Academy, McDonald also worked at the Lila Frederick Pilot Middle School and the Condon School, as well as with youth programs at Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries, Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Boston, College for Every Student, The Trust Project and Straight Ahead Ministries, the DA's office says.

"The victim's family thought they were getting a mentor and role model for their loved one. Instead, they got Michael McDonald, a grown man now accused of using his position of trust to prey on a child," said District Attorney Rachael Rollins. "I'm so proud of the survivor in this case for coming forward to share his truth, despite the pain and trauma disclosure can sometimes create for survivors. There should be no shame associated with being targeted, groomed, and violated. This young man did nothing wrong."

McDonald's next court date is scheduled for Feb. 16, 2022.