Former Chelsea School Committee member pleads guilty to 2021 child rape

BOSTON, February 23, 2023 — A former Chelsea School Committee member pleaded guilty today in Suffolk Superior Court to raping a 12-year-old child in 2021 after offering the child a ride in his car, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.

HENRY WILSON, 57, 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. The victim’s family became aware several days later of the assault and contacted Chelsea police. Wilson was subsequently identified, interviewed and arrested.

“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.  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,” Hayden said.

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.

Help is also available for members of our LGBTQ+ community experiencing domestic or intimate partner violence through The Network/La Red by calling 617-742-4911 or 8700-832-1901. 

James Borghesani, Chief of Communications