News

Chelsea foster parent accused of raping children in his care

BOSTON — A Chelsea man is charged with raping two foster children in his car, one of whom was his biological child, according to Chelsea Police.

Michael Diaz, 33, of Chelsea was a DCF-approved foster parent to two victims who have come forward alleging sexual abuse against the foster parent.

Chelsea Police told Boston 25 News that Diaz is the biological father of one of the two children, but that the two children are not biologically related.

Police say the first incident happened in the spring and the second incident happened more recently.

DCF officials say this foster home was closed in March 2019 and has had its license revoked. We asked DCF when it had been licensed, but had not heard back by the time of this posting.

Court documents show DCF received an abuse complaint alleging Diaz inappropriately touched one of the children and, "forced her to shower with him."

Sources tell Boston 25 News that investigators are reviewing years of foster placements.

"The Department of Children and Families (DCF) finds these allegations deeply disturbing and in March 2019 immediately removed the two youths, closed the home and notified the District Attorney, consistent with the department's policy to notify the District Attorney any time an allegation of sexual assault is filed," A DCF spokesperson said in an email to Boston 25 News. "DCF is collaborating with law enforcement throughout the investigation."

Police say they believe this man cared for several children. They are now working to find out if there are additional victims.

In late June, the mother of one of the children - a 12-year-old girl - walked reported to Chelsea Police that her daughter told her the details of her abuse. The police report states that the victim told police that Diaz would, "assault her every day."

Police interviewed the other child in Diaz's care, who said the same thing.

Court documents also reveal that the children were told to keep quiet about the abuse.

Even after the children were removed from Diaz's care, the 12-year-old victim told police that Diz continued to communicate with and abuse her.

"These allegations are incredibly disturbing to me not only as District Attorney but as a licensed foster parent and an emergency foster care provider," District Attorney Rachael Rollins said.

"Foster children are brought into strangers' homes during some of the darkest, most frightening times in their young lives. Foster parents are tasked with providing the safety, support, and stability that these children need to move forward and recover from the trauma many have experienced prior to DCF involvement."

Diaz faces 15 child rape charges and has also been charged with indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, aggravated rape of a child under 16 and a single count of distributing matter harmful to a child.

His bail has been set at $50,000. If Diaz posts the required amount, he will have to wear a GPS monitoring until he appears in court in August.