Shrewsbury Man Sentenced For Child Rape

SHREWSBURY, MA – A Shrewsbury man was sentenced to over 20 years in prison Monday for sexually assaulting and raping a young girl over a period of six years. Fernando DaSilva, 45, was convicted of a litany of charges on Friday, including aggravated rape and rape of a child.

In March of 2015, a 13-year-old girl told Plymouth police DaSilva had sexually assaulted and raped her multiple times from 2006-2011, according to the Plymouth District Attorney's office. She also told police he had taken nude photos of her and shown her child pornography.

DaSilva was indicted the next month.

It took a jury five days to convict DaSilva of 17 charges: four counts each of aggravated rape of a child and rape of a child with force; six counts of indecent assault and battery of a child, 14 years or younger; dissemination of visual material of a child in a state of nudity or sexual conduct; intimidation of a witness; and posing or exhibiting a child in a state of nudity.

"Over a number of years, Mr. DaSilva violated this child and stole her innocence," Plymouth District Attorney Tim Cruz said in a statement. "I am hopeful that this verdict and lengthy State Prison sentence can help this young victim turn the page and move forward, stronger than before."

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