Two detectives now work ‘inconceivable’ sexual assault cases

By George P. Hassett

When Somerville Police Detective Martha Costa was on the news this month for her role in catching a man police say sexually assaulted two women in West Somerville, she said her parents began to understand the serious and disturbing nature of the work she does each day.

“I think seeing the case on television woke them up. Before that, they had no concept of what I deal with here,” she said.

Costa, a 20-year veteran of the department, is one of two detectives in the domestic violence unit. She responds to all of the city’s sexual assaults – the majority of which involve children victimized by family members, she said. (However, this month Somerville Police made their third arrest in the last 14 months for a so-called stranger rape. Costa said she had seen only one case of a woman attacked by a complete stranger on the street in the previous 20 years.)

After 15 years in the unit, Costa said she is not surprised by any crime Рno matter how depraved. “Working here [in the domestic violence unit] definitely hardens you. Nothing can shock me now,” she said.

The key, she said, to avoiding burnout is to leave the work in the office when the day ends. But that doesn’t mean Costa, who has lived in Somerville her entire life, forgets about the victims when a case is over. She remains in contact with several and attended the second weddings of two women she first met when they were victims of domestic violence. ‚ÄúI’ll run into people I met on cases at Dunkin’ Donuts. But that’s Somerville, it’s a small place.‚Äù

Costa’s partner Sgt. Michael Mulcahy has been in the unit for six months. He said he is still learning how to deal with the stress sexual assault cases bring. ‚ÄúWhen you’re in this unit you don’t talk about what goes on here. But it stays with you. I’m still learning how to leave the job here when I go home at night,‚Äù he said

Costa said Mulcahy has had to adjust to allowing perpetrators to walk with probation sentences and no jail time when that is the best outcome for a victim who may not be able to stand up to a cross examination from a defense attorney. Costa has seen defendants she believed to be guilty of violent sexual assaults let off the hook by juries after appearing in court as well dressed and eloquent citizens.

Mulcahy said he is shocked by how many children are victimized by family members, he estimated nine of 10 cases he works are incestuous. ‚ÄúIt’s just inconceivable to me how people can do some of the things we see done to children.‚Äù

An anonymous person Mulcahy thinks may have been a victim in a case he worked, recently dropped off a book at the police station for him. The title? “Coping With Stress.” He said he plans to read it soon.

Department pressures

As important as the work Costa and Mulcahy do is, their unit has a recent history of understaffing and even elimination. When Costa joined the unit in 1993, there were five detectives working sex crimes. Ten years later the unit was cut and sexual assault investigations went to a rotation of detectives more accustomed to working breaking and entering cases.

In 2005, Acting Police Chief Robert R. Bradley restored the unit but for six months Costa was the only detective in it. When she spoke up about the understaffing at a public hearing that year, she hurt her chances of a promotion but succeeded in getting the word out about the lack of manpower in the unit, she said.

Today, with a new police chief and a promised reorganization of the department, Costa is hopeful the domestic violence unit will be staffed at the level it was in the mid-90’s. ‚ÄúWith the support of the chief we’re hoping to get some more bodies in here,‚Äù she said.

A woman working rapes

Costa responded to her first sexual assault in 1988 before she was a detective, when she was still “chasing teenagers through the parks.” She thinks she was called because female victims were thought to be more comfortable with female officers. The case involved a father raping his daughter and Costa said she was stunned at the circumstances surrounding it.

Costa said the domestic violence unit has traditionally been a place where female officers have succeeded. In crimes that predominantly have female victims, Costa said a woman investigator has the advantage of gut instincts. She also said victims are more willing to open up to a woman. In Medford, Patricia Sullivan has worked sex crimes for more than a decade, Costa said. The two were part of the team that helped arrest serial rapist Nicholas Chacon last year for a string of assaults in West Somerville and West Medford.

“A woman generally brings gut instincts and a different perspective to these cases,” she said..
Somerville Police Capt. Paul Upton, who worked with Costa when she was new to the force, said she is essential to the department’s ability to apprehend and monitor dangerous sex offenders in the city. ‚ÄúIf Martha were to leave that unit it would be a detriment to the entire department. It would take years to train someone to her level,‚Äù he said.