Protestors gather outside alleged abuser’s Bristol home

Posted 8/5/19

Despite concerns by some that it might take a bad turn, a demonstration in front of the Bristol home of alleged child molester David Barboza remained orderly and peaceful on Monday evening.

While …

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Protestors gather outside alleged abuser’s Bristol home

Posted

Despite concerns by some that it might take a bad turn, a demonstration in front of the Bristol home of alleged child molester David Barboza remained orderly and peaceful on Monday evening.

While dozens of protestors gathered on the sidewalk, alleged victim Robert Powers was greeted warmly by locals who thanked him for his courage in stepping forward and blowing the whistle on Mr. Barboza, who is facing accusations that he sexually assaulted multiple boys in the 1970s and 1980s.

With a resume of public service in Bristol that includes both the police and fire departments, the Rotary and Elks clubs, and St. Mary’s Church, Mr. Barboza is well known is several circles around town.

It is not the first time that Mr. Barboza has faced such accusations. He was arrested in 1982 for allegedly attempting to solicit sex from a 14-year-old boy. The Grand Jury declined to pursue the case, and it was dismissed without prejudice, with the details expunged from the public record. At the time, Mr. Barboza, now 64, was 27 years old.

According to Mr. Powers’s accounts, which he detailed for the Rhode Island State Police in 2014, that incident occurred a full decade after Mr. Barboza began repeatedly molesting and sexually assaulting Mr. Powers in the early 1970s, when Mr. Powers was a child.

Since his 1982 arrest, Mr. Barboza served seven terms as a Bristol town councilor and was named chief marshal of the Fourth of July Parade in 2014. His role at St. Mary's Church also continued unabated, until he resigned last week, the same day as stories about allegations and a civil siuit appeared on the websites of the Boston Globe and Bristol Phoenix.

Joe DeMelo, who organized the Monday event, said he did so in order to show Mr. Powers, and any other victims of sexual assault who would be inclined to come forward at any time in the future, that they have the community’s support.

Mr. Powers certainly felt that support, despite the challenge of recounting his story for members of the media, which caused him to become emotional on more than one occasion. “It wasn’t easy,” he said, of speaking out and bearing witness to his childhood abuse. “But we showed our strength tonight.”

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A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.