BOSTON — A veteran Boston police sergeant was deemed a flight risk in court on Tuesday and ordered held on $250,000 bail after a prosecutor detailed the child rape charges he faces.
Paul Downey, 58, returned to Boston Municipal Court to face four counts of aggravated rape of a child, two counts of sexual conduct with a child under 18, and two counts of electronic enticement of a child for commercial sexual activity. A plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf.
Assistant Suffolk District Attorney Brandon DeAvilla alleged that Downey met a 14-year-old boy on the dating app Grindr on March 26, 2025, and started communicating with the victim on Snapchat before paying him $50 for sex.
Downey picked up the boy, drove him to a parking lot near South Bay Plaza, and then raped him, according to DeAvilla.
DeAvilla further alleged that Downey continued to message the child for about two months, then paid the child $80 for sex a second time on May 11, 2025, after the victim said the initial offer of $50 was “too low.”
“The Commonwealth’s evidence that led to the identification of Mr. Downey started with a forensic interview with that child,” DeAvilla told the court. “Through that forensic interview, the Commonwealth was able to collect screenshots from Snapchat for the communications that the Commonwealth alleges were Mr. Downey, where they are negotiating a price.”
DeAvilla also said that the child provided police a partial plate of Downey’s car, a black Chrysler 300, which was seen in the parking lot area of the South Bay Mall around the time one of the rapes occurred.
After detailing the extent of the allegations and evidence against Downey, DeAvilla asked the court to hold him on $250,000 bail.
“I do find the serious nature of the charges that Mr. Downey faces, as well as the potential penalties on the multiple counts, and his financial resources pose a risk for flight,” Judge Jonathan Tynes responded.
Downey, who has been with the police department since 1991, made about $268,000 in 2024, including $110,000 in overtime, according to city payroll records.
Downey initially appeared in court on Monday, but he didn’t have an attorney present at the hearing because of a work stoppage among public defenders in Suffolk County, and the judge ordered him held overnight. He had an attorney present on Tuesday.
In a statement shared with Boston 25, Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox confirmed that Downey is on administrative leave from the department.
“These charges are obviously very troubling, and our thoughts are with any alleged victims,” Cox said. “We have faith in the Massachusetts State Police and the SCDAO to conduct a thorough investigation.”
Downey is due back in court for a probable cause hearing on July 29.
An investigation is ongoing.
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