HANSON, MA — A Suffolk County corrections officer pleaded not guilty Monday to multiple charges of child rape and human trafficking after prosecutors alleged he paid a 15-year-old boy for sex acts across three Massachusetts communities.
Richard Kielczweski, 41, of Hanson, was ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing Thursday following his arraignment in Plymouth District Court. The case has prompted his indefinite suspension from the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, where he worked for nearly nine years as a corrections officer. Prosecutors say the investigation involves alleged sexual assaults in Hanson, Halifax, and Middleborough, with evidence including cell phone communications and witness testimony from the teenage victim.
The charges stem from a joint investigation by police in Hanson, Halifax, and Middleborough, along with Massachusetts State Police, that led to Kielczweski’s arrest Friday night. Assistant District Attorney Taramarie Pellerin told Plymouth District Court Judge Shelby Smith that Kielczweski met the 15-year-old victim through the dating app Grindr and used Snapchat to arrange meetings. “He met the defendant on Grindr and used the application to communicate with him,” Pellerin said during Monday’s hearing. According to prosecutors, Kielczweski promised to pay the teenager for sexual acts, telling him through messages he would pay for “blow jobs and sex, to be honest with you.” The alleged crimes began last fall and continued through March 2026.
Court documents reveal that many of the alleged encounters took place at a cabin behind Kielczweski’s Hanson home, which bore a sign reading “Rick’s Place” or “Ricky’s Place.” Prosecutors said the victim told investigators this location “is where they spent most of the time, and that there is a bed where most of the sex acts took place.” Other alleged incidents occurred in a Walmart parking lot in Halifax, where Kielczweski allegedly paid the boy $200 for oral sex. Pellerin told the court that Kielczweski provided the victim with numerous gifts, including an iPhone, a TV projector, and presents for the victim’s family. The case broke open when the teenager’s parents discovered the unrecognized iPhone in their son’s room and questioned him about its origin.
Kielczweski faces a total of 13 charges across the three communities. In Hanson, he is charged with three counts of paying for sexual conduct with a child under 18, two counts of rape of a child aggravated by a 10-year age difference, and one count each of rape of a child with force, posing or exhibiting a child in a sexual act, and trafficking persons under 18 for sexual servitude. Halifax authorities have charged him with two counts each of rape of a child aggravated by a 10-year age difference and paying for sexual conduct with a child under 18, plus one count of trafficking persons under 18 for sexual servitude. In Middleborough, he faces charges of witness intimidation and enticing a child under 16. Prosecutors allege that Kielczweski created child sexual abuse material and that at one point, he told the primary victim he would reduce payments because he was now paying another teenager for sex acts.
The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, which hired Kielczweski as a corrections officer on July 6, 2015, moved quickly to distance itself from the accused officer. “The charges against Officer Kielczweski are extremely serious and deeply disturbing,” the department said in a statement. “The Department has taken the swift and decisive action to indefinitely suspend Officer Kielczweski.” According to state payroll records, Kielczweski earned $112,615 in 2025, including overtime pay. The department noted that he had been recognized for community service, receiving a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal from the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots Program for his work in the greater Boston area during the 2024 holiday season.
Defense attorney Michael Carroll declined to address the specific allegations during a brief exchange with reporters outside the courthouse Monday. “Today was not his day in court. He hasn’t had his day in court yet. We have not had an opportunity to review the police report, the investigation,” Carroll said. “So at this point in time there will be no further comment.” During the court proceedings, Carroll had argued for an immediate bail hearing, telling the judge, “I am ready to go today so my client’s due process is not trampled upon.” However, Judge Smith granted prosecutors a three-day continuance for the dangerousness hearing. Neighbors in Kielczweski’s residential area expressed shock at the allegations, with one telling reporters they had never suspected any inappropriate activity despite occasionally seeing unfamiliar children in the neighborhood.
Prosecutors indicated that their investigation revealed concerning details about the scope of the alleged crimes. According to court testimony, when police arrested Kielczweski at his Hanson home Friday night, an 18-year-old was present at the cabin where many of the alleged assaults took place. The victim told investigators that during one encounter, Kielczweski displayed a firearm that was kept in his vehicle’s center console and identified himself as “a prison guard in Boston.” Evidence presented in court included communications between Kielczweski and what prosecutors described as a second victim, also allegedly a teenager aged 15 or 16. The investigation remains active, with State Police and local departments continuing to examine the circumstances surrounding all charges across the three jurisdictions.
Kielczweski remains in custody without bail until Thursday’s dangerousness hearing, where prosecutors will argue he poses a threat to public safety if released. The Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office has impounded court records related to the Middleborough charges, making those details unavailable to the public. His next scheduled court appearance for the charges in Hanson and Halifax is set for Thursday, April 30, while a separate arraignment on the Middleborough charges will occur at a later date.
