Ex-cop sentenced to life in prison for child rape

By George P. Hassett

A former Somerville police officer convicted of raping a 23-month-old child last month was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday.

A jury found that Keith Winfield, 31, used a hot object to rape his wife’s niece on Oct. 13, 2005 while he babysat the girl and his own infant daughter. On Tuesday, the child’s mother submitted a victim impact statement read by Assistant District Attorney Beth Merachnik. In it, she said her daughter still talks about the attack.

“She has told numerous people, ‘Uncle Keith burned me,’” she said.

She said her daughter has changed from a “fun loving carefree little girl” to a “reserved but aggressive” child since the rape. She said the now 4-year-old girl may need further surgery as she grows up and her body develops. And Winfield, she said, should suffer for what he did.

“I think Keith should sit in jail forever. I want him to rot and think how he ruined his own niece’s life,” she said.

The details of the rape were disturbing even to two experienced doctors who treated the child and testified about her injuries. Dr. Carol Allen, a pediatrician for 33 years, examined the child the day after the attack and had to pause to maintain composure while on the witness stand describing what she saw.

“It was shocking. I had never seen anything like it before,” she said.

Dr. Alice Newton, who specializes in child abuse treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital, testified that she has handled approximately 1,000 cases of sexual abuse of children in her career. During her testimony she was forced to take a 5 minute break when tears came to her eyes as she described examining the child the night after the attack.

The brutal crime and its aftermath divided one family and threw another into chaos.

Keith Winfield’s wife Patricia Winfield stood by him and cut off her relationship with her sister and parents, the mother and grandparents of the child. Her father testified that he has not spoken to her in the two years since the attack. After her husband was found guilty, Patricia Winfield blamed her sister for the child’s injuries and said, “She just got away with murder.”

When the jury returned a guilty verdict on Nov. 15 Keith Winfield’s brother John Winfield, 23, of Somerville, stood with his arms wide and yelled at the jurors, “Are you [expletive redacted] kidding me? Were you listening? There was no evidence!”

As all four court officers in the room at the time dragged him away he continued to scream at the jury. “You should all die,” he said. With no security in the courtroom Keith Winfield’s mother Margaret A. Winfield, 56, of Somerville, pointed at the victim’s mother screaming, “She did it! She did it!” Keith Winfield remained calm during the outbursts.

Each were taken into custody as defendants, the second and third Winfield’s to come before Judge Patrick Riley that day. John Winfield was sentenced to 60 days at the Billerica House of Corrections but was allowed to go free in less than a week after Riley revised his decision. Margaret A. Winfield was sentenced to 60 hours of community service.

On Tuesday as he was being led away to serve a life sentence, Keith Winfield turned for a moment and looked at his wife and mother who were both in tears. No words were exchanged. His two young daughters played in the hallway outside the courtroom.

Keith Winfield never took the stand to deny the charges himself during the trial. The only time the jury heard from him was when prosecutors played an audiotape of an interview he submitted to with the Melrose Police Department.

Keith Winfield’s lawyer, Doug Louison, said on Tuesday that despite the jury’s verdict the Commonwealth did not introduce enough evidence directly implicating Winfield to uphold a guilty verdict.

During the trial prosecutors never introduced evidence directly implicating Winfield for the crime. Instead, they emphasized the sequence of events that led to him being alone with the child for 45 minutes on the day doctors said the rape occurred. The child’s mother testified that she brought her daughter to Winfield’s home that day so Patricia Winfield could baby sit the girl while she worked. The mother said she changed the girl’s diapers that morning and there were no visible injuries.

In the taped interview with Melrose police investigators the jury heard Winfield admit he was alone with the child for 45 minutes. He said he changed the girl’s diaper for the first time that day and noticed a “really red diaper rash.”

Louison said four other people ‚Äì Patricia Winfield, the victim‚Äôs mother and the victim‚Äôs grandparents ‚Äì had the same access to the child Keith Winfield did.   

However, his motion to vacate the verdict was denied and Winfield was sentenced to life in prison.

Keith Winfield joined the Somerville Police Department in 2000. He turned in his badge and gun and was placed on administrative leave in October 2005 after city officials learned he was being investigated for the rape. He was indicted for the crime nine months later in August 2006.

Acting Police Chief Robert R. Bradley said if Keith Winfield had refused to resign he would have fired him. He said Winfield’s status as a Somerville cop could not protect him from the consequences of the crime he committed.

‚ÄúNobody is above the law,‚Äù Bradley said.