Victims Destroy Abuser’s 'Torture Chamber' in Cathartic Teardown

FOXBOROUGH, MA — Daniel Smith remembers the white building at Cocasset River Park all too well. It was there as a child he was pinned down by former Foxborough swimming instructor, teacher and scout leader Bill Sheehan on a cot inside his office.

The windows were open as a woman and a child approached. The woman, knowing that something was wrong as she peered inside and saw Sheehan standing behind a desk to hide his arousal, left.

That building no longer stands on the town-owned property. Residents and victims took part in the demolition of the structure in a Wednesday gathering organized by the town to remove the symbol of what was once Foxborough's darkest secret.

For many, Cocasset River Park is a place remembered as the spot where you learned to swim and home to many summer afternoons. Those memories have been replaced by something more sinister as the acts committed by Sheehan have since come to light.

Smith’s story was just one of many. Pastor Bill Dudley recalled his own when he was 9 years old and Sheehan asked him to go search for fossils together. It was when they went across the bridge, through a pine grove and into a sand pit where Sheehan "did his thing," Dudley said.

“I can still see his grinning distorted face and crew cut looking down on me,” Dudley said.

The landmarks of abuse were all around the area. Dudley pointed to trees where two girls were abused and the dam where kids were told it was unsafe to go. That was where Sheehan would take his victims.

“As they were being abused they could hear their friends going, ‘Where is so and so? What happened to him?’” Dudley said.

The number of children abused by Sheehan is unknown. About 30 victims who were molested in the '60s, '70s and '80s have come forward, and another 10 are known but have not talked to police. The real number could be in the hundreds, according to Dudley.

Sheehan left Foxborough for Florida in 1981 and lost his teaching license in 1991 due to accusations stemming from an incident at a Boy Scout camp. About 17 years later, Smith became the first victim to come forward, telling then-Foxborough Detective James Kozak in 1998 of the abuse he suffered. A case was prepared and sent to the Norfolk County district attorney’s office for review. The case was suspended after the DA's office told Foxborough police that the statute of limitations had expired.

It nearly never even started because of fear.

“Everything is about fear. I’m 32 years old. I was a Marine, I played football, I was tough, and I couldn’t talk to people. It’s about doing what’s right and understanding knowing there is no stigma to being brave and attacking this head-on,” Smith said.

Those abused continued to remain unknown to the public until 2012, when Foxborough Public Schools employee Kevin Corliss told Superintendent of Schools Debra Spinelli what Sheehan did to him.

“My whole life I thought I was strong enough, why wasn't I strong enough? Why couldn't I fight him off? I look at pictures 50 years later and I think, my god,” Corliss said.

Corliss recalled the abuse he suffered, being told that Sheehan would teach him how to swim, but what looked like splashing and horseplay above the water was something else beneath it.

Three years after that incident, Corliss said he was going to say "no more" to Sheehan, but when he told his abuser he would no longer go on one of their hikes into the woods, Sheehan replied that he would ask his younger siblings to take a walk instead. Corliss took that hike to spare his brother and sister.

“That's the type of manipulation he will use on you. Tell your middle schoolers, tell your high schoolers, that sixth-grader, that freshman, that sophomore, you’re his friend and you will support him. Your juniors and seniors, your seventh- and eighth-graders, let them know that the children below them need them because adults have a lot to do, and in their minds, they’re everywhere. These kids know what happened, tell them to talk to each other,” Corliss said.

Aaron Averhart, a Florida resident who says he was molested by Sheehan, called Foxborough his second home.

“I never imagined that the whole town’s been destroyed. I’ve been blessed to be welcomed with open arms. I just want to thank you all for making me feel welcomed,” Averhart said.

The victims will never get their justice. Sheehan will never be arrested, face trial, or go to jail. In 2012, police located Sheehan in a secure assisted-living facility in Florida, where he resides and suffers from dementia. A year later, the Norfolk County District Attorney’s office determined that the man who destroyed untold dozens of childhoods was incompetent to stand trial.

The silver lining in this ordeal has been the response from the town. In the years that followed, Foxborough formed the state’s first child sexual abuse awareness committee, teaching more than 1,200 teachers, volunteers, parents and residents how to identify sexual abuse.

“This proves that there are so many people on our side, just pushing to help us. We called for help, it came. This committee is just phenomenal. I never expected. I didn't realize how much work it would be, but you all stepped up. It couldn’t be appreciated more,” Corliss said.

While the scars of what Sheehan did will remain, the building that became a symbol of what he did no longer stands. Before the bulldozer came through, the victims had the opportunity to destroy the place where Sheehan made his office.

Less than an hour after the demolition began, the building was gone.

“This is our legacy. This is the face most people don’t see when you don’t stand up and do the right thing. You have to be braver and do the right thing,” Smith said.

Click here to watch the remarks and destruction Sheehan’s office.